Accessible Arts / arts + disability NSW

The Board of Accessible Arts, the peak arts and disability organization across NSW, today issued a statement in support of the Action On Cinema Access, a community group working to improve access to cinemas for people with a disability.

Less than 0.3% of all cinema sessions are currently accessible to people who are deaf, hard of hearing, legally blind or vision impaired.  This effectively excludes 4 million Australians from going to the movies.

The major cinema exhibition companies, Village Roadshow, Greater Union, Hoyts and Reading Cinemas, have applied for a Temporary Exemption from the Disability Discrimination Act for two and a half years.  If the exemption is granted, these companies may provide a minimal amount of captioning and audio description, covering only 105 out of 41,370 screenings nationally per week.

Maryanne Ireland, Chair of Accessible Arts, spoke for the Board in asserting the right of all Australians to access the cinema. ‘Accessible Arts believes a society in which people with disabilities fully experience and participate in the arts and cultural life is achievable but this does require commercial interests to be responsible in playing their part within the timeframe defined by the legislation,’ said Ms Ireland. ‘The provision of access is not just about good corporate citizenry - the fact of a rapidly ageing population also means it ultimately has great commercial imperative a fact that is often overlooked".

The Board of Accessible Arts applauds the initiative of community groups such as Action on Cinema Access in advocating for a fully inclusive society.

The Australian Human Rights Commission is expected to deliver a finding on the cinema companies’ application for exemption from the Act later this month.

MEDIA CONTACT: Tracylee Arestides, Marketing & Media Coordinator, on Tel: 02 9251 6499 ext 101 (M/T) or 0425 208 521 (W/Th/F).