Geneva, 25 November 2011
Next generation relay services in Australia
Sandy GillilandChief Executive Officer
Australian Communication Exchange (ACE)
ITU-T Workshop on“Telecommunications relay services for persons
with disabilities ”
(Geneva, 25 November 2011)
Geneva, 25 November 2011 2
Presentation outline
Background on ACE and Australian relay servicesThe National Broadband Network - a truly enabling infrastructureOur Vision for the futureChallenges and opportunities A change in philosophy to shape legislation, regulation and funded services
Introducing ACE
Geneva, 25 November 2011 3
Geneva, 25 November 2011 4
ACE is a national not-for-profit
The organisation is dedicated to enabling communication access for Deaf, hearing impaired and speech impaired AustraliansOur Vision is ‘Access to Communication for Everyone’The organisation has a unique mix of technological expertise and community passion which inspires us to advance communication solutions in Australia
Source: Senator Stephen Conroy address to Huawei Digital Inclusion Summit
Relay services available in Australia
Geneva, 25 November 2011 5
Geneva, 25 November 2011 6
History of Australian relay services
The National Relay Service (NRS) was introduced in 1995Access to the NRS is legislated under the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Services Standards) Act 1999Funding is through a levy on carriers with a gross revenue of $10 million+Services are evolving, though not nearly as rapidly as telecommunications for the wider community
Geneva, 25 November 2011 7
The National Relay Service (NRS) is under review
Today, NRS users can access:TTY services including emergency accessSpeech impaired servicesInternet relay services (one way)
The Australian Government is in the midst of a major NRS review with a view to maximising the benefits from newer technologies and applications.
Opportunities from a National Broadband Network
Geneva, 25 November 2011 8
Geneva, 25 November 2011 9
Australia will soon have a reliable andubiquitous high speed broadband
The Australian Government has committed ~$27.5 Billion to deliver a National Broadband Network (NBN)The NBN is an internationally acclaimed enabling infrastructureThe vision is that Australia will be a leading digital economy by 2020 and will be among the top five OECD countries by the percentage of households connected to broadband
Geneva, 25 November 2011 10
There are recognised challenges tobridging the digital divide
The Australian Government has recognised the challenge in bridging the digital divideIn 2008-09, 26 percent of Australians over the age of 15 did not use the internet. The figure is much higher for older, disabled and indigenous Australians37 percent of people aged 55-64 and 69 percent of people over 65 did not use the internet
Source: Senator Stephen Conroy address to Huawei Digital Inclusion Summit
Geneva, 25 November 2011 11
Equally, there are opportunities toincrease digital literacy
Households have affordable accessHealth and aged care services can be delivered remotelyEducation opportunities will be more accessibleTelework opportunities will emergeGovernment services can be more accessibleRegional Australians will be connected to the digital economy
Our Vision for the future is Access to Communication for Everyone
Geneva, 25 November 2011 12
Geneva, 25 November 2011 13
Our Vision echoes a GPII Ultimately we wish to see:
Accessible technology become ubiquitousInteroperability between disability and standard devices increaseAccess become affordableInnovation derived from lower market entry costsConsumer choice expanding; andRegardless of the disability, the user has their accessibility features on any device, any time, anywhere
Challenges and opportunities have emerged through our work
Geneva, 25 November 2011 14
Geneva, 25 November 2011 15
Captioned telephony enables functionally equivalent access
The trial service has been incredible, empowering service and is the best available solution to offer functionally equivalent telephone callsACE’s trial participants have reported growing independence, confidence and workplace productivity The community has requested web and handset captioned telephony for the next generation services
Geneva, 25 November 2011 16
However, the presence of a third party creates some concerns
Benefits:Conversations are fast
and natural for the userThe user has less call
refusals from businesses and call centresThere is an enhanced
feeling of privacy and personalisation for calls between families and friends
Concerns:The presence of a third
party is not apparent to the hearing personCaption records could be
misused
CapTel® has removed the feeling that a third party Relay Officer is involved
Geneva, 25 November 2011 17
The different services options are alsoviewed differently by the legislation
Web version X Currently in
breach of the TIA
Handset version Permissible in the
TIA
Geneva, 25 November 2011 18
Our next accessibility investments also
face legislative challengesACE is leveraging widely available smart phone devices to shift disability access design in Australia and internationally
Geneva, 25 November 2011 19
This is the world’s first smart phoneemergency access channel
The ACE Board fast-tracked this application because it meets a critical need for our communities to have a mobile emergency access channelThe Australian Government will trial this application in 2011/2012It has been deemed the world’s first Government sanctioned emergency app
Geneva, 25 November 2011 20
The opportunities to enhance thisapplication are cost effective
ACE and the Australian Government have started discussing the next developments
Moving forward we need to view relay services and disability
access in a different light
Geneva, 25 November 2011 21
Geneva, 25 November 2011 22
There are different philosophies whichunderpin relay service provision
In our view, there are three different philosophies applied in different nationsRelay services are funded with the intention of providing either:1. Telecommunications access 2. Social welfare3. Functional equivalence
Australia has traditionally worked on the grounds of the first philosophy
Geneva, 25 November 2011 23
We promote a functional equivalencephilosophy
There are important reasons to promote this change
Functional equivalence recognises that social inclusion is more than a right, it makes economic senseThrough functionally equivalent services disabled citizens can access all facets of a prosperous fulfilling life – education, careers, family life, health, culture etc.Functional equivalence promotes the need to keep pace with technology
Top Related