Lisa Singh

Labor Senator Lisa Singh is calling on Communications Minister Mitch Fifield to mandate audio description on Australian television, following the conclusion of a recent audio description trial on ABC iView.

Audio description is an extra narration track on television broadcasts, describing what is happening on the screen. It is intended primarily as a tool to assist blind and visually impaired people.

Senator Singh says audio description is essential for the 350,000+ Australians who are blind or visually impaired, but who still wish to engage with a range of television programs that most Australians take for granted.

“I’ve written to the Minister on behalf of Tasmanian constituents who are visually impaired, to implore him to amend the Broadcasting Services Act to provide a minimum level of audio description on television.”

“Audio description is available in the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand, so Australia is lagging behind.”

“The conclusion of the latest successful audio description trial, the third trial in four years, means it is now decision time for the Australian Government.”

“Why have three trials if there is no expectation of a permanent service?”

“The government has already legislated for a captioning service on Australian television broadcasts, so why can’t it legislate for audio description?”

“Audio description is important for young vision impaired people, to help give them an understanding of visual concepts in the physical world.”

“It is also important for older Australians. Our aging population means there will be a large increase in the number of blind and vision impaired people in coming years,” says Senator Singh.