Some of Our Parts

Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities Inc.

You are welcome to participate in the 2025 Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities annual conference!

This premier event brings together experts, innovators, and advocates dedicated to improving information accessibility for all.

• Don’t miss out—early-bird registrations are open, offering discounts for those who register by 28 February 2025.

Around the conference theme “Access Unlocked: Innovating for Information Equity”, presenters will explore the dynamics between legislative changes, technological progress, and advocacy efforts that collectively enhance information equity.

Information Equity and Social Justice

The 2025 conference is dedicated to deepening the understanding of information equity as an essential element of social justice. It emphasises the critical need for cross-sector collaboration to overcome the obstacles faced by individuals with print disability and to pave the way for a society where inclusive participation is the norm.

• Visit the website at 2025 Round Table conference to view the full agenda, speaker lineup, and registration details.

Don’t Miss These Keynote Speakers

• Maryanne Diamond, OA, The Road to Marrakesh – History and Relevance of the treaty.
• Carly Iles and Jonathan Craig, V2020A – 25 years of collaboration.
• Professor Gerard Goggin, Disability & Digital Citizenship: Australian Consumers & Citizens with Disability Navigating Digital Society.

And our confirmed Feature speakers:

• Dr Emily White, Accessing the expertise of teachers and people with lived experience to drive innovation in braille literacy assessment and teaching.
• Sonali Marathe, Transforming Access: A Decade of Progress, and What’s Next in Information Accessibility.
• Neil Jarvis and Andrea Arch, Digital Accessibility under the DDA in 2025

Dates

• Australian Braille Authority (ABA) Annual Meeting – Saturday, 24 May 2025.
• Conference Proper – Sunday, 25 May to Tuesday, 27 May 2025.

Registrations

• Early Bird Registrations are open and close on Friday, 28 February 2025

To register please complete the on-line delegate registration form, also accessible via the link on the 2025 Round Table conference page of the Round Table website.

Take advantage of the early-bird registration, available until Friday, 28 February 2025. After this date, standard registration fees will apply.

Conference Updates

Conference updates will be posted to the 2025 conference page on the Round Table website and Round Table mailing list.

The Tammy Axelsen Lifetime Achievement Award

This is a reminder that nominations for this annual award are open. The nomination form and further details can be found on our website by following this link: Tammy Axelsen Lifetime Achievement Award

2025 GradWISE Industry Accessibility Week

We’re excited to announce that GradWISE’s Industry Accessibility Week is returning in 2025.

This free, online event is a fantastic opportunity for students and recent graduates living with disability, injury and/or illness to engage with leading employers, explore graduate and early career opportunities, and gain skills and information to support their career journey.

Event Details

• Monday 10th February – Thursday 13th February 2025
• 9:30am – 3pm AEDT daily
• Online, MS Teams – Registration required here.

Students and graduates will have the opportunity to:

• Hear from leading employers across diverse industries
• Receive application tips and advice to stand out
• Join lunchtime activities focused on wellbeing

Monash students/graduates can attend sessions that align with their current career goals, making it flexible and impactful for them.

REGISTER HERE

Career Connect – Recruitment Ready Week 2024

From 18th-20th November 2024, Career Connect is hosting a series of events, panels, and workshops focused on essential recruitment skills and job-hunting strategies!

This week offers primarily online events, where students will gain practical tools and strategies to land a job confidently following graduation.

• Check out the full program of events visit: www.monash.edu/recruitment-ready

Welcome to the MATT Open Day!

• Friday, October 25 from 2 – 5pm
• 13 Rainforest Walk Clayton Campus

Hosted by the Monash Assistive Tech Team (MATT), this event highlights projects designed to improve the lives of underserved communities.

• Explore hands-on demonstrations, hear from students about their cutting-edge research, and connect with industry leaders, academics, and fellow students.

This is a unique opportunity to engage with impactful tech, discover collaboration opportunities, and learn how students are making a difference.

Whether you’re from the industry, a student, or faculty, we look forward to welcoming you to this exciting event!

• The event is open to all Monash students and staff.
• We will be showcasing 11 exciting accessibility-related projects that our team has been working on over the past couple of semesters, and this is a great opportunity for students and staff to connect around similar goals and topics. 
• To see a list of our projects, visit monatt.org

Please find the links to free tickets below:

• Monash Students
• Monash Staff

Ability Fest VIC 2024

Ability Fest is the first of its kind, promoting access and inclusion within the music industry, and proudly presented by the Dylan Alcott Foundation, Untitled Group & triple j.

It is a music festival designed for everyone to experience the magic of live music. It is a not-for-profit event, with all proceeds going directly to the Dylan Alcott Foundation to help empower young people with disability to achieve their ambitions.
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Celebrating their fifth edition, Ability Fest is opening up to ages 16+ to welcome more people than ever before!

In Victoria the festival is located at Naarm/Melbourne’s Alexandra Gardens/Birrarung Marr, an urban space embracing community with sweeping city skyline views and lush greenery.

You can expect all your usual festival amenities like delicious food & drink options, shaded retreats, unique experiences and unforgettable music performances across two stages.

Accessibility remains at the forefront of Ability Fest. The organisers have worked with their partners, Get Skilled Access, to implement the following features to ensure an inclusive and enjoyable environment for all music lovers:

• Auslan Interpreters
• Accessible Parking
• Accessible Drop Off & Pick Up Zones
• Accessible Bathrooms & Changing Places
• Elevated Viewing Platforms
• Bindi Maps – Navigation App
• Companion Card Accepted
• Friendly Volunteers to Assist
• Pathways & Flooring
• Assistance Dog Area
• Designated Chill Spaces & Sensory Zones
• Ear Plugs
• Tactile Sensory Silent Disco
• Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Initiative
• Free Wifi
• Live Captioning
• Access Liaison

Ability Fest was developed by Dylan Alcott, a four-time Paralympic gold medallist, 15-time Grand Slam champion, and the 2022 Australian of the Year, in collaboration with music festival masterminds Untitled Group, the creators of renowned music festivals including Beyond The Valley, and Wildlands.

Ability Fest uses the power of music to bring people together and help normalise disability whilst setting a standard for accessibility, inclusion and diversity at all events.

• For more information go to the Ability Fest website.

IT Student AccessAbility Network – Are You Interested?

The Faculty of IT is aiming to establish a community network for and with IT students who experience chronic illness, neurodiversity, disability (including mental health), and/or impairment.

Although this network will initially be aimed at current IT students, we are hoping to expand this to STEM students once the network is established and if it is successful.

To that end, we are interested to see if you would firstly be interested in participating, and secondly, potentially being consulted in setting up in such a network.

Please Provide Your Expression of Interest Here

Thank you!

Mat Teubert (he/him)
Education Support Officer

Polio Awareness Month is This October 2024

As we mark Polio Awareness Month this October, we invite you to stand with the tens of thousands of people affected by polio across Australia who are living with the Late Effects of Polio (LEoP).

The theme, We’re Still Here, highlights the resilience of our community and the urgent need for specialised care for those living with post-polio conditions.

Polio Australia is committed to improving this situation. They offer education and resources to both health professionals and polio survivors to support the management of post-polio conditions.

This year, over 90 landmarks will be participating in their Polio Awareness Month illumination campaign to help raise awareness for all people affected by polio living in Australia.

• You can view a list of all confirmed landmarks illuminating orange here.

How You Can Support the Illumination Campaign

1. Contact local landmarks in your area – If you haven’t already, there might still be time to contact your local council, or a building or landmark in your city/town. There is a template you can copy and paste (make sure you fill in the parts in brackets!). You can find the template at this website. If it’s too late, ask them about next year! They typically light up the second week of the month.

2. Remind them! – If you’ve already sent out a letter or email and haven’t heard anything, why not give them a little nudge? You can forward your original email to them with a polite “in case you missed it” message, or perhaps give them a call.

3. Take photos! – If a landmark in your area is illuminating, check it out and take a photo to send to – office@polioaustralia.org.au. They would love to post it on our Polio Awareness Month website as well as their social media accounts.

Polio Awareness Month Events and Activities

There are many events to celebrate Polio Awareness Month and World Polio Day.

• You can find a list of events here and here.

Keep checking back, as these lists are continuously updated as we hear about more events. If you are aware of any other events in your area, email them at office@polioaustralia.org.au, and they will add them to their website.

• Don’t forget to wear orange on Monday, 7th October and join in for the monthly Zoom chat. They will snap a photo of everyone in their orange!
• If you’re on social media, you can change your profile picture and cover photos to promote Polio Awareness Month.
• Continue to use the hashtags #StillHere and #PolioAwarenessMonth to keep the campaign moving!

Thanks for helping us spread the word!

• Polio Australia Incorporated
• PO Box 2799, North Parramatta NSW 1750
• Phone: +61 3 9016 7678
• Email: office@polioaustralia.org.au
• Websites: www.poliohealth.org.au / www.polioaustralia.org.au

Accessible Theatre Workshop at Monash with Artist Jess

You are invited to attend a workshop for disabled artists and anyone curious about making accessible theatre, led by Jess Kapuscinski-Evans.

This workshop starts with a one-hour exploration and discussion of an existing theatre text, followed by a performance excerpt from The Waiting Room Arts Company’s new work 2050: a post-apocalyptic drama about Melbourne (Naarm) in the year 2050, exploring environment, disability and asking, “what does utopia mean to you?”

Jess Kapuscinski-Evans is a writer/performer and sings with “crip folk” trio the Bearbrass Asylum Orchestra. She is artistic director of The Waiting Room Arts Company and enjoys playing with existing texts and pop culture.

Jess is supported by Monash University Performing Arts Centres in the development of her new play, 2050.

• Where: David Li Sound Gallery, The Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts
• When: Thursday 10 October 2024 11:00 am
• Tickets: $15 – $25
• For tickets go the Monash Performing Arts Centre Web Page

Be Part of The Monash Library EDI Action Plan

Monash University Library is developing an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan, as part of their commitment to Monash University’s EDI Framework.

They’re working closely with the EDI team at DVC Education to develop a three-year plan. The Library wants to consult widely to capture and reflect the diverse perspectives and needs of our communities.

As part of this process, the Library invites Monash University staff and students to contribute their ideas and experiences: good, bad or indifferent.

You can do this in two ways:

• Complete a 10-minute survey. You can opt in to go into the draw to win one of five $100 eGift cards*
• Express your interest in participating in a 90-minute focus group, run by the EDI team. All students who are selected selected will receive a $75 gift card.*

Your responses will help shape our plan so that it can have a real impact at Monash.

Call for Participation: Inclusive Data Visualization Design Study at Monash University

• Do you want to help make data visualisation (i.e., chart and graphs) more inclusive and easier to use?

Our study is all about creating data tools that are universally accessible, with a special focus on the autistic community.

Our aim is to find out what kinds of visuals and ways of showing data to help people understand and use information better in their everyday lives and jobs.

What is Involved in This Study?

• We’re looking for Monash students who are 18 or older, and diagnosed with autism or if you’ve self-diagnosed, to join our study.
• You’ll start by answering some questions about your demographic and how you use data visuals. It will take approximately 10 minutes.
• Then, you’ll take part in two phases of the study, where you’ll look at different data visuals and complete web-based tasks.
• After each phase, we’ll discuss your experiences with you. Both user-study and interview will take approximately 120-150 minutes.

We really want to make sure this study works for you, so please tell us if there’s anything we can do to make it better for you!

Participant Appreciation

As a big thank you for your time, you’ll get an AUD $50 voucher for groceries.

Eligibility Criteria

• Must be 18 years of age or older.
• Must have a diagnosis of autism, or self- diagnosed.

Interested in Participating?

• To take part in this important study, please follow this link.

REGISTER NOW!

*This project has Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee approval – Project ID: 41238