From:	Len Bytheway 
Sent:	Friday, 4 December 2009 9:44 AM
To:	disabdis
Subject:	Submission regardingAccessible Cinema exemption

Michael Small  
Director Disability Rights Policy  
Australian Human Rights Commission 
I hereby express my objection to any further delay in the provision of equitable and accessible 
cinema, we have waited far too long and the excuses are no longer valid.

Throughout our recent history every attempt to eradicate every form of discrimination in 
Australia have been argued against, citing costs are unreasonable or technologies unachievable. 
These same delaying arguments have been applied to cinema for far too long. The technology is 
there and has been for a long time, the will is not.

I am hearing, and my life partner and wife is a Deaf woman who needs captions to participate in 
cinema. For us the cinema is much more than just a form of entertainment:

- it is (potentially) a social opportunity to share a pleasurable experience together or with our 
grandkids
- it is a source of information about culture and community values and issues
- it becomes a pivot point for later discussion and social interaction with friends and workmates 
"did you see that movie? What did you think of...?"
- It is a great way to get out of the heat!

As a hearing person I am able to check the newspapers or the web and am presented with a broad 
range of movie options in convenient locations and at times that fit our busy life. If, however, I 
want to share that experience with my wife or our whole family I am limited to very few 
theatres, inconvenient locations that usually involve expensive travel or parking costs, and a 
choice of one movie instead of 20 or more.  The vast majority of contemporary cinema titles 
NEVER make it to captioned showing. In the past twelve months we have been unable to enjoy 
any captioned movies as those highly restrictive set of criteria have not aligned. For those who 
don't live in capital cities the situation is dramatically worse.

We are forced to choose foreign language films or wait until the movie is no longer "hot" and hits 
DVD. This not not equate to the real cinema experience and ironically Australian content is 
probably not to be captioned on DVD anyway.

If the industry is concerned about becoming less competitive or that it disadvantages 
independent theatres perhaps we should look at how the National Relay Service is funded. It is 
feasible to place an annual levy on all cinema providers, with their contribution proportional to 
their market share . This fund could then be used to offset conversion costs for all cinemas, 
including small and independent operators.

It is important to recognise that for every one person who may directly need access to theatres, 
there are many family, friends, partners, and peers who are also impacted by this lack of equity. 
Do the maths.

Len Bytheway