How do you know what Vision Australia thinks about issues facing people who are blind or have low vision in the broader community? Issues like gaining access to published information, having equal access to education and employment, being able to vote independently in Australian elections, or the dangers of pedestrians having to share pathways with cyclists. As the largest provider of blindness and low vision services in Australia, we are often asked by government, business and the community for our view, and we need to have a rigorous, deliberate and consistent message as a prominent and growing leader in the community.
Our Policy team which sits within the department of International & Stakeholder Relations, has the job of developing the organisation's official position on matters affecting our client group in the community. We call these documents "Public Policy", which really just means these statements are not about internal operations or governance, but are about issues outside in the broader public arena.
Vision Australia's Protocol for Developing Public Policy, says that we have to go through a number of important steps before a policy becomes an official position. These steps include: research and consult internally with clients and expert staff; research and consult externally with other consumer and service organisations; consider relevant existing policy and standards; and for each policy to be approved by the Executive Committee. This ensures that we gain the collective wisdom from all relevant stakeholders and information and that there are review mechanisms in place along the way, to inform a sound and robust position.
We are excited to announce that we have recently added a suite of new policies to our growing public policy bank. These include:
- Access to Published Information
- Access to Currency
- Access to Education
- Access to Employment
- Access to Voting in Australian elections and Referendums
- Shared Use Paths
- Access to Braille Literacy and Numeracy