The non-profit that runs a network of radio stations for Australia’s blind and low vision community says it will be off the air by next year unless the government intervenes to restore its funding.

Vision Australia, which operates 10 radio stations across Victoria, southern New South Wales, Adelaide and Perth, says it is facing a $700,000 shortfall after responsibility for disability funding was transferred to the national disability insurance scheme.

Vision Australia’s manager of government relations, Chris Edwards, told Guardian Australia the lost funding was an “unintended consequence” of the NDIS.
 

Edwards, who lives with low vision, said the radio station was crucial for the low vision community, particularly among those who had recently lost their sight.

“Some people like myself have access to a range of technologies, but what the radio service really does deliver is that people who are newly blinded, that may not have the skills, can turn on a radio,” he said.

“Everyone knows how to turn on a radio even if you’ve just recently lost your vision.”

The network had previously received block funding from state governments, but the money has dried up after the introduction of the NDIS, which provides money to people with disabilities through individualised plans.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/20/radio-stations-for-the-blind-could-go-off-air-over-ndis-funding-shortfall