Geneva, 25 November 2011 Relay services in Australia - the consumer view Danielle Fried Disability Policy Adviser Australian Communications Consumer Action Network ITU-T Workshop on “Telecommunications relay services for persons with disabilities ” (Geneva, 25 November 2011)

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) National member group representing telecommunications consumers 175 members One third organisational members represent people with disability Also: community legal centres, farmers’ federations, financial counsellors, regional groups, seniors’ organisations, research bodies etc Geneva, 25 November

Australia’s National Relay Service (NRS) Funded by levy on telcos Government manages contracts with two private providers (Relay & Outreach) Customer Consultative Committee Different call types for: Deaf Hearing-impaired Speech-impaired/ complex communication needs Wider community to call Deaf/HI/SI Geneva, 25 November

Statistics 9000 Australians use NRS per month call minutes in Half of all calls now via internet 15% of calls are ‘voice’ calls Geneva, 25 November

Costs to consumers Relay service itself: Free for all users (Deaf, hearing- impaired, speech-impaired, wider community) Call costs: TTY, speech-to-speech, voice: 30-50c Internet relay: internet connection/data Equipment: TTY – rent for same cost as other phone Other – varies Geneva, 25 November

Call modes TTY IP relay (“internet relay” - unidirectional) Speech to speech (“Speak and Listen”) Voice (to TTY or Speak and Listen) Emergency 106 – TTY 000 – internet relay, Speak and Listen, TTY Geneva, 25 November

NOT included in NRS (yet!) Voice to internet relay Video relay Captioned telephony Services for other PWD (eg cognitive) Disability equipment program Geneva, 25 November

An essential service Real-time communication Unlike , SMS (text), fax Independence Employability Convenience Access to government, business, NGOs Not possible via SMS (text), online chat Emergency calls Geneva, 25 November

Issues for consumers Time taken for calls Consistency (esp. speech to speech) Difficult or not possible to receive calls (depending on equipment) Literacy issues Outreach service unable to meet all needs (eg training in ‘phone norms’, Braille) Lack of SMS (text) access Geneva, 25 November

Issues for consumers (continued) Refusal of businesses/family/friends to receive or handle relay calls Relay officer response times Cost (equipment, internet connection/data) Some emergency calls: Not prioritised Response times/reliability guarantees Geneva, 25 November

Does Australia’s relay service provide functional equivalence? Speed? Privacy? Inbound and outbound calls? Natural conversation? First or preferred language? Access to a range of equipment? Reliability (esp. of emergency calls)? NOT YET Geneva, 25 November

ACCAN’s vision – a Disability Telecommunications Service Expanded relay services Video relay (Auslan and speechreaders) Captioned telephony Next-generation text relay Services for consumers with cognitive and other disabilities Disability equipment program TTYs, computers, mobile/cell phones Specialised equipment to use these Geneva, 25 November

More information? Australian Government’s review of relay service etc: of_access_to_telecommunications_by_people_with_disability,_old er_australians_and_people_experiencing_illness of_access_to_telecommunications_by_people_with_disability,_old er_australians_and_people_experiencing_illness ACCAN’s submission: National Relay Service: Trial services of video relay and captioned telephony: article&id=1&Itemid=8 Geneva, 25 November