Launch of disability strand, Sydney Film Festival

Graeme Innes AM

State Theatre, Sydney
6 June 2008

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today.

It's the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it .....

Andy Warhols words ring true in Australia as well, and confirm the major role which movies play in our lives. And the Sydney Film Festival, celebrating its 55th anniversary this year, and show-casing 235 films, has been very much a part of that role, particularly for the discerning film buff.

This disability strand of the festival is an important part of it- because it specifically show-cases issues faced by the 20 % of Australians, and thus of Sydney-siders, who experience disability in their lives. Though I'm not a film buff, or a regular attender at the festival, as Australia's Disability Discrimination Commissioner, I'm pleased to have the opportunity to launch this strand.

I congratulate the festival on its efforts to include this portion of our community- one in five people. I know that this is the 2nd year of the festivals partnership with Accessible Arts NSW, and the progress made has been positive. Last year films in the disability strand were captioned and audio described. This year the partnership has broadened, and captioning and audio description have been introduced for mainstream festival films. This year one film is captioned and four are audio-described. When the festival invites film-makers to present their films, questions are being asked about the availability of captioning and audio-description. This is not only sensible because it determines if the film-maker has included these access features, but it raises awareness throughout the world of the need for such accessability features. There's also a forum as part of the festival to educate film makers about acptioning and audio description. It's a positive start.

The process will be assisted by the decision of the Then Film Finance Corporation over twelve months ago to require, and financially support, the provision of captions on all Australian films produced with the support of its funds. An excellent initiative, which will mean that as time goes on more Australian films will be available with captioning.

But it's not only the Sydney Film Festival which needs encouragement to go further. In Australia currently captioned movies are shown regularly on only ten screens, and they are only screened three sessions in each week. When you think about the hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of screens throughout Australia, and the hundreds or thousands of screenings which occur, this can only be described as a pretty poor effort.

Apart from the moral imperative to include all members of the community, and the fact that it has been unlawful to discriminate against people on the ground of their disability for fiftene years in Commonwealth law, and for longer in some States, there is a strong business case for providing more captioning and audio description. In 2005, according to figures on the Media Access Australia website, there were 500'000 Australians who are Blind and vision impaired who would benefit from audio description; and 3,5 million Australians who were Deaf or hearing impaired and would benefit from captions. This is a big segment of the population who are either not watching movies, or watching less movies, because they are not equally accessible. If marketed properly there's a real chance to get more bums in cinemas by providing captions and audio description. And the cost- a one-off expense of $15'000 to $20'000 per screen.

The Federal Government is clearly interested in improving accessibility of electronic media. The recently released discussion paper on the subject demonstrates that. It allows us to look at how Australia compares with practices overseas, and gives us an opportunity to map out future developments, in partnership between Government, industry and the community. Based on population comparisons, experience in the US, Canada and the UK, would indicate that captioned movies should be showing on at least 70 screens around the country, so we have much catching up to do.

Alfred Hitchcock, ever a practical man, said "A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it". I'm sure that holds true today, but for people with vision and hearing disabilities, until captions and audio description are widespread, the product will be under-valued. When 235 films are being screened during this festival, to only caption and audio describe five is- to use a film analogy - just the opening credits. There's a long way to go to the end of the movie, when we reach equality.

I'm pleased to launch this strand of the festival, congratulate you on beginning the equality journey, and encourage you to continue it in the years to come.

Thanks for the chance to speak with you today.