The address as given for Sandy Hollway does not work. I wrote to him and the
message was returned. I then wrote to Bruce and his message was returned as
unknown. Can someone help on this?

Nancy Lane
-----Original Message-----
From: Frank Hall-Bentick <[log in to unmask]>
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Date: Tuesday, August 03, 1999 9:26 AM
Subject: Braille Olympics Information - Discrimination Complaint


>Friends,
>
>Please email & fax
>Mr Sandy Hollway
>Chief Executive of SOCOG
>emailto:[log in to unmask] .
>The telephone number is 61-2-9297-2000, Fax: 61-2-9297-2020.
>
>to support Bruce's concern and ensure an accessible Olympics.
>
>Frank Hall-Bentick
>President
>Disability Australia
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Bruce Maguire wrote:
>emailto:[log in to unmask]>
>
>> August 3, 1999
>>
>> Greetings Everyone
>>
>> This message is being posted to a number of electronic discussion
>> lists in an effort to reach as many people as possible. Please
>> feel free to forward it to whomever else you think might be
>> interested.
>>
>> I have divided this fairly long message into three parts:
>> firstly, a summary of the main points; secondly, a detailed
>> account of the events surrounding my complaint against SOCOG
>> alleging discrimination on the grounds of disability; and,
>> thirdly, a discussion of what seem to me to be the broader social
>> and political issues arising from the complaint.
>>
>> A.      Summary
>>
>> I continue to be amazed and very encouraged at how many people
>> have become aware of my ongoing campaign to obtain information
>> about the 2000 Olympic Games in braille. For those who are not
>> familiar with the background, a brief summary follows:
>> 1) On June 7, I lodged a complaint under the Australian
>> Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) against the
>> Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG). The
>> complaint alleges that SOCOG have discriminated against me on the
>> grounds of my disability by failing to provide me with the
>> Olympics Ticket Book in braille.
>>
>> 2) Two days later on June 9, we lodged an application with the
>> Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) for an
>> Interim Determination pending the final resolution of the
>> complaint.
>>
>> 3) On June 24, the Commission granted the application, ruling
>> that SOCOG were to preserve my right to purchase tickets for the
>> Olympic Games after the deadline of July 16.
>> 4) SOCOG subsequently indicated that they would not comply with
>> this Interim Determination.
>>
>> 5) After considering various options, I decided to refer the
>> matter to a Public Hearing at the Human Rights and Equal
>> Opportunity Commission, which is scheduled for September. At this
>> hearing, all the substantive issues of the complaint will be
>> addressed.
>>
>> B.      Detailed Background to My Complaint
>>
>> On May 30, print copies of the Official Olympic Games Ticket Book
>> were distributed in newspapers across Australia.
>>
>> On May 31 I telephoned the Sydney Organising Committee for the
>> Olympic Games (SOCOG) to request a braille copy of the Official
>> Olympic Games Ticket Book, and also a braille copy of the
>> Souvenir Programme, which can be ordered through the Ticket Book.
>> I was aware that the Olympics Co-ordinating Authority (OCA) has,
>> for some years, maintained an access committee to advise it on
>> aspects of physical access to Olympics venues, and I hoped that
>> SOCOG would have been aware of issues such as the importance of
>> making public information available in alternative formats such
>> as braille. As a blind person, I use braille as my primary means
>> of literacy, and I find it to be the only effective way of
>> gaining access to complex formats such as tables and charts -
>> which form a significant component of the Olympics Ticket Book.
>> There are numerous precedents for having public information
>> available in braille: braille telephone bills and bank statements
>> are produced in Australia, and information about major festivals,
>> as well as cricket and football fixtures, is produced regularly
>> in braille. Most recently, information relating to the Telstra
>> share offer is being produced in braille.
>>
>> SOCOG had not made any of its information available in braille,
>> and it soon became apparent that they were not prepared to do so.
>> They told me in no uncertain terms that I would have to get
>> someone else to read me the Ticket Book.
>>
>> Accordingly, I lodged a complaint under Australia's Commonwealth
>> Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), alleging discrimination by
>> SOCOG against me on the grounds of my disability because they
>> would not provide me with information in braille, and so they
>> were treating me less favourably than sighted people. The
>> complaint also alleged that SOCOG were being discriminatory
>> because their Worldwide Web site does not conform to the
>> accessibility guidelines developed by the W3C Consortium, which
>> means that it is inaccessible to me in significant respects.
>>
>> Shortly after I lodged the complaint, Blind Citizens Australia,
>> acting on my behalf, lodged an application with the Human Rights
>> and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) for an Interim
>> Determination. We did this because it was our understanding that
>> the deadline for ordering Olympic Games tickets using the Ticket
>> Book was July 16, and it was unlikely that HREOC would be able to
>> deal with the substantive issues of my complaint before then.
>>
>> As a direct result of my complaint, SOCOG established a telephone
>> line for blind and vision-impaired people to use, and they
>> claimed that the operators were prepared to read the entire
>> Ticket Book if necessary. They also noted, however, that it would
>> take 410 minutes to read the book from beginning to end, and I
>> argued that it was unreasonable to expect me or anyone else to
>> absorb information about schedules and prices over such an
>> extended period of time, especially without any possibility of
>> reviewing it later. Readers of print were not expected to do
>> this.
>>
>> The application for an Interim Determination was successful. In
>> its reasons for granting the application, the Commission noted
>> that there was a more than arguable case that discrimination had
>> occurred and that the telephone line was no substitute for a
>> braille copy of the Ticket Book. The Interim Determination
>> required SOCOG to allow me to purchase tickets after July 16 on
>> the same basis as I would have been able to do before that date,
>> pending the final hearing of the complaint by the Commission.
>>
>> SOCOG refused to comply with the Commission's Interim
>> Determination. Because of a separation of powers between the
>> judicial and administrative branches of Australian government,
>> HREOC decisions are not of themselves legally binding. In order
>> to enforce the Interim Determination, it would have been
>> necessary for me to begin proceedings in the Federal Court. Such
>> action would have incurred substantial costs, and had the Federal
>> Court ruled against enforcement of the Interim Determination, I
>> would have been required to pay SOCOG's costs. I am in no
>> financial position to do this, and so I decided that the risk of
>> Federal Court action was too great. I decided, instead, to refer
>> my complaint to a Public Hearing, which will take place at the
>> Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in September this
>> year. At this Hearing, all the substantive issues arising from my
>> complaint will be dealt with.
>>
>> The current situation is that SOCOG still have not provided in
>> braille any information relating to the Olympics Games. A few
>> days before the July 16 deadline, they provided some information
>> in electronic form, but this is not my preferred format for
>> reading, and is not, for me, a substitute for braille. As a
>> result, I was not in a position to purchase any tickets to the
>> Olympic Games. I await the Public Hearing in September, but I am
>> aware that even if I am successful, Federal Court action may
>> still be necessary should SOCOG choose not to comply.
>>
>> C.      Borader Issues
>>
>> The campaign to gain access in braille to public information
>> disseminated by SOCOG has been much more demanding of my time and
>> emotional energy than I envisaged, and is being waged against a
>> backdrop of remarkable and unnecessary intransigence on the part
>> of SOCOG who will probably - if they have not done so already -
>> spend more on legal costs than they would have had they agreed to
>> provide me with braille in the first place. Nevertheless, I feel
>> that my complaint raises a number of very important issues for
>> those of us who have disabilities, and so I believe that it has
>> been, and will continue to be, worth pursuing vigorously:
>>
>> a) Firstly, I believe I should have the right to be able to read
>> information in the same way that anyone else is able to do.
>> Braille is the closest I can ever get to print, and it is the way
>> I read and write. In telling me that I can get someone else to
>> read the book, SOCOG are, in effect, saying that I do not have
>> the right to read information as others do. It is similar to
>> telling a person in a wheelchair that someone else can carry them
>> into a building because a ramp will not be provided.
>>
>> b) There is a need to broaden the traditional public
>> conceptualisation of access from access to physical space, to
>> encompass access to information. It is, of course, very important
>> to have good physical access, but access to information about
>> cultural and sporting events is no less important. Blindness is,
>> in many ways, an information disability, and in seeking
>> independent access to information in braille, I am making a claim
>> about my fundamental human right to have access to, and to be
>> fully a part of, the community and all its facilities and
>> resources.
>>
>> c) Recently, the world celebrated the 30th anniversary of the
>> Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. Like most people who
>> were old enough to remember this event, I have clear memories of
>> where I was and what I was doing when Neil Armstrong set foot on
>> the moon. The Olympic Games is an event that will be unique in
>> the lives of most Australians - certainly it is most unlikely
>> that Australia will host the Games again in my lifetime. In years
>> to come, Australians will reflect on the events surrounding the
>> Olympic Games, and they will use tangible, written information
>> such as the Ticket Book and the Souvenir Programme to act as
>> mementoes. I believe that I have as much right to have tangible
>> mementoes of the Olympic Games as anyone else.
>>
>> d) As a father of two sighted children, I am trying to provide a
>> positive image of disability. I cherish the hope that they will
>> grow up with the belief - confirmed through their observations of
>> my life - that people with disabilities can and do partake of the
>> full quota of rights, responsibilities and benefits of
>> citizenship. I wanted to be able to demonstrate that I could play
>> an active role in ordering Olympic Games tickets, just as other
>> fathers of other children have done.
>>
>> e) The possibility of recourse to Federal Court action raises an
>> important issue about the feasibility of an individual with
>> meagre financial resources being able to prosecute a complaint
>> against a large organisation with millions of dollars at its
>> disposal. Without financial assistance I simply could not
>> initiate proceedings in the Federal Court, and I would be
>> bankrupted should I be required to pay the other party's costs.
>> SOCOG, on the other hand, have large amounts of financial
>> resources, and it is ironic to note that those who ordered
>> tickets using the Ticket Book could elect to make a donation to
>> SOCOG. Those of us who live in Australia need to be active in
>> lobbying politicians to secure a more equitable way of handling
>> the issue of costs in the Federal Court insofar as they relate to
>> the resolution of DDA complaints.
>>
>> Finally, I want to thank all those people who have directly or
>> indirectly shown their support for me. I have received quite a
>> few messages of encouragement from around the world. I know, too,
>> that many people have contacted SOCOG to express their
>> disappointment that SOCOG have chosen to adopt such an
>> uncompromising position. I remain convinced that community
>> pressure can make a difference, and so I would welcome any
>> legitimate initiatives that might persuade SOCOG to rectify their
>> failure to provide me with braille information, and to make their
>> Web site fully accessible. The Chief Executive of SOCOG is Sandy
>> Hollway, and his email address is [log in to unmask] .
>> The telephone number is 02-9297-2000, Fax: 02-9297-2020.
>>
>> Please feel free to contact me, either by email or telephone
>> (Sydney, 02-9639-5346) if you would like more information, or if
>> you would like to discuss any of the issues I have raised in this
>> email.
>>
>> Sincerely
>> Bruce Maguire
>> [log in to unmask]
>> Ph: 02-9639-5346
>>
>> To signoff the OZADVOCACY list:
>> Send the command: signoff OZADVOCACY
>> mailto:[log in to unmask]
>



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