What's New
Current Happenings: Audio Described television for
blind, vision impaired and deafblind children and adults is
around the corner. Thanks to NZ On Air, and funding of $500,000,
this will become a reality early in 2011. You can read more about
this development by visiting NZ
On Air's website, checking out our
own media release, and reading the joint release from the Ministers
of Broadcasting and Disability Issues. The Association
continues to work with TVNZ and NZ On Air to bring the service to
fruition.
Ann Bain won the extra-ordinary election for the Member at
Large position (voting closed on Monday 2 August). Ann took office
on Thursday 5 August 2010 and in September, will attend her first
Board meeting.
Nominations for the World Blind Union and three Member at
Large positions close on 19 August.
If you have something to offer back to the blind community, and
you meet criteria to be a voting member of this Association, then
standing for election to fill any of the aforementioned positions
may appeal to you. Take this link
to find out about criteria, and timeframes for the close of
nominations and voting. Nomination forms are available as
follows:
World Blind Union and Member
at Large.
Wellington Seminar: Hon Pansy Wong,
Associate Minister for Disability Issues hosted this year's
Wellington Seminar Parliamentary Function. The afternoon at
parliament began with demonstrations on: accessible telephone
voting, real time scheduling (courtesy of Greater Wellington
Regional Council), screening of an audio described movie and
accessible websites. During her address, Hon Pansy Wong took the
time to acknowledge the many issues upon which the
Association is working. Her friendliness, spontaneity and
interaction with attendees was well recieved and appreciated. You
can take this
link to read her address and learn more of what the Associate
Minister had so say.
We launched two further supplements to
"The Great Barrier Brief": "Are We Being Taken for
a Ride? (Issue 1: Nationally Consistent Total Mobility Scheme);
and "Are You Walking the Talk?" (Issue 5: Accessible
Telecommunications Services).
Local Body Elections - Are you ready to
vote (a message on behalf of the Electoral Enrolment Centre)? Local
elections are just around the corner, and you will only get your
voting papers if you are correctly enrolled to vote in time. An
enrolment drive is currently underway to get people to enrol or
check their enrolment details. Everyone
enrolled to vote has been sent an enrolment update pack in the
mail. Anyone who
hasn’t received their pack isn’t enrolled correctly, and
won’t be sent voting papers for the local council and district
health board elections.
You can
enrol if you are: 18 years of age or older; and
you are a New Zealand citizen or permanent reident; and you
have lived in New Zealand more than one year continuously at some
time in your life. Enrolment
forms are available from the elections website www.elections.org.nz,
by freetexting your name and address to 3676, from any PostShop or
by calling 0800 ENROL NOW (0800 36 76 56).
The
deadline to enrol is Friday 20 August.
Conference 2010 - Life is for Living:
Conference runs from Friday 8 to Sunday 10 October inclusive. We
are in Christchurch at the Sudima Hotel (minutes from the airport)
this year. Blindness is not a barrier to getting on with
life and this year's speakers will reinforce this. We will
publicise guest speakers and their topics once they are
confirmed. Early registration is encouraged and to this end
the Conference Registration Form is available via this
link.
Focus - June Issue: this link
will take you to straight to the June issue.
Summary of Board Meetings: Summaries of key outcomes of
Board meetings are produced following each Board Meeting.
These are made available to Branches and others interested in
following the Association's workload. Visit
our News page and have a look at our meeting summaries.
The most recent summary provides highlights of the Board's
May 2010 Meeting.
Is this the Right Bus? This publication is a supplement to The Great Barrier
Brief. It addresses Issue 2 - Accessible Public Transport.
To learn more about the issues faced by blind and vision impaired
travellers we encourage you to read
"Is this the Right Bus?" Hard-copies
are available upon request, just contact our National Office and
ask for them.
The Great Barrier Brief: Issues identified
in this publication form the basis of the Association's on-going
advocacy programme. Taking this
link will lead you to "THE GREAT BARRIER BRIEF"
and the Association's register of issues.
President's BLOG: The President's BLOG is a public commentary on issues of concern to blind and vision
impaired people living in New Zealand. If you have not
already subscribed, now is the time to do so - the President's
BLOG reflects
the Association's perspective with a view to improving
an understanding of blindness issues. Take this
link to vist the President's BLOG and hear from our National
President, Clive Lansink..
Proposed Changes to RNZFB Governance: The
establishment of a Governance Working Group in 2009, resulted from the Association's advocacy seeking a full review of the
Foundation’s constitution. Facilitated by Kevin McCaffrey
the working group comprised Vaughan Dodd, Geoff Gibbs, Geraldine
Glanville, Clive Lansink, Jonathan Mosen, Dean Rea. The
Governance Working Group's report and recommendations were submitted to the Foundation's Board of Directors in
November 2009. The report
and recommendations are now publicly available.
Schedule of Association 2010 Board Meetings: The Board's
next meeting is the weekend of 11-12 September. Meetings for the
remainder of the year are scheduled to be held at the
Association's National Office as follows: 19 November. The Board's Annual Planning Meeting will occur
on 20-21 November. Observers are always welcome to attend
routine Board Meetings. If you intend coming along you will
need to inform the Executive Officer approximately four days prior
to the Board meeting. Costs incurred when observing at Board
meetings (meals, travel etc), are the responsibility of the
"observer".
Benefit Issues - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): This
resource is available in all formats. The FAQ is available by taking this link
or you can contact the National Office
for a copy in your preferred format. If you are having
difficulties with benefit entitlements and would like some
assistance, you should contact the Association's Executive Officer
Rose Wilkinson.
National Feedback Line: If you are keen to keep
abreast of issues raised on the Association's National Feedback Line,
remember Martine Abel records this weekly. If you have missed the most recent
bulletin or you
want to hear an earlier recording, take the Feedback
Line
link .
You are
encouraged to check out our Website - please feel free to pass
on any feedback and suggestions for improvement.
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