00:44 S1
This is Studio 1 on Vision Australia Radio.
00:50 S2
Sha na na na na! Hello, I'm Sam...
00:52 S3
And I'm Lizzie.
00:53 S2
And this is Studio 1, your weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view, here on Vision Australia Radio.
00:58 S3
On this week's show...
00:59 S2
Would you give these clowns a job? What are the challenges of finding work? If you have a vision impairment or are blind? And are there any solutions?
01:08 S3
We ask a few friends what their experiences are.
01:12 S2
We also ask an expert to look over our two CVS and see what can be done. When you have either changed your career.
01:19 S3
Or have limited opportunities. As we always say at this point, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience with any of the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or whether you think there's something we should be talking about. You never know. Your story and insight may help someone who's dealing with something similar.
01:39 S2
Please contact us by email. studio1@visionaustralia.org. That's studio number one at Vision Australia dot org.
01:45 S3
Or perhaps you can drop us a note on our Facebook page at facebook.com slash VA Radio Network.
01:54 S2
Hello, Lizzie. How does this cold day find you?
01:57 S3
Very warm. My heater is cranked up and I am snug as a rug in a bog.
02:03 S2
Brilliant, brilliant. So today's episode we are looking at, well, what it is like to be on the lookout for work when you... are one of us? I suppose so, we'll start out with... What's your experience been like?
02:17 S3
Not the greatest. This is actually the first paid job I've ever held. I've done plenty of volunteering in the past, though. You actually volunteered at a community radio station called Radio Adelaide from 2015 to 2017. And then I did some volunteer work at Beyond Blindness, helping to run a music group and an adaptive technology group as well, which assisted people learning about iPhones and laptops and...
02:43 S2
What is beyond blindness? For those of us, interstate who may not know what it is.
02:48 S3
Sure. So Beyond Blindness is an organisation that seeks to provide social activities for blind and vision impaired people across South Australia, both metropolitan and regional. Great organisation. I've actually been a member with them since 2013 and have enjoyed many trips and day activities and all sorts on the...
03:06 S2
What has usually been their, like, the stumbling block in finding paid work?
03:10 S3
Really, the, two things, my vision impairment certainly doesn't help, especially as I'm not the most technologically minded person, but also a lack of experience I've found has been the biggest contributor to me not being able to get a job. I don't have a degree, not qualified to do anything really. So. Or getting a job based on that lack of experience. Plus having the vision impairment has made things very difficult.
03:35 S2
That's really the challenge as well, is that, you know, we can't even get jobs driving pizza trucks. I mean, that's... the problem there is that if you don't have those qualifications, it's a lot harder. I mean, I've actually got it qualifications. But really what it means is that I have to be the absolute best candidate to get work because, not only am I vision impaired, but now I'm over 50. So, yeah, there are twice the amount of challenges, which is why I'm doing what I'm doing now, as opposed to listening to people complaining about their computers and stuff like that. Yes.
04:08 S3
Well, I must admit, I don't have that problem as I haven't reached 50 yet. And hopefully I'll have some, you know, good experience behind me by the time I reach your age. So. But yes, I can imagine it would be quite difficult.
04:19 S2
So, dear listener, as we are recording this, I'm waiting for a phone call from somebody who can actually give us a little bit more guidance. But otherwise, if I don't get that phone call, then we'll all be treated to one of my favorite records of all time. And that is folk dances of the Balkan region.
04:40 S3
Lovely. I can't wait to hear. I almost kind of hoping they don't call. We could hear a bit.
04:44 S2
Well, yeah, I just I do happen to love Serbian drinking songs. I mean, you just can't beat that.
04:50 S3
No, no, I tend to agree.
04:52 S2
Anyway, we have talked to a few of our friends about, well, what it is like out there in the job market. So let's listen to a few we talk to a lot earlier, as in Lachlan, Simon and Paul.
05:10 S5
Certainly. I think anyone who has got a vision impairment that has been looking for work would have certainly struggled to find it. For me, all my jobs have come for really people that I've known and been able to, I guess, get in front of and show off my skill set. And then they've actually asked me to come work for them. But as far as trying to apply for jobs just with my resume, even though probably at the moment my resume might look quite good, it's still as soon as he put Legally Blind on your resume or don't have a license or something like that. That kind of tick the box that they're not happy with, you go to the bottom of the pile. And yeah, it certainly makes it really tricky to try and find work. So I always encourage everyone to just be able to, I guess, show off yourself whenever you can to... take those opportunities, I guess.
06:01 S6
Well, I've had issues that have resulted in me not finding employment, and therefore I haven't had the the trauma of trying to keep a job because despite a master's level university education, there is always another reason why I'm not a successful candidate.
06:20 S2
Yes, I've noticed that they they don't really necessarily like to say, you know, I'm sorry, we don't think someone with with a vision impairment can do this job. They'll simply say, oh, well, you didn't show the right amount of technical experience, or we'd like to have somebody that has worked in government more often. Have you noticed that?
06:36 S6
Yes. Or or even, you know, in a course? Devane. Sorry you didn't meet our selection criteria.
06:44 S7
No, I'm not in work at the moment. I haven't been in work for quite some time. I have had trouble finding work, but that is possibly due to my application and qualifications and similar. I haven't actively searched for work for quite a while.
07:06 S2
Are you doing anything for, on a voluntary standpoint at the moment?
07:09 S7
Not a great deal. I am on to, boards of management, and they throw up a few different things occasionally where I have to do a sort of voluntary work for them and those often a lot of correspondence and so forth that I have to attend to. But, no, I'm actually, you know, in a luxurious spot at the moment where I have lots of free time and I'm putting that into some creative pursuits.
07:40 S2
And of course, the last speaker was Simon Chong, who you can hear on the Vision Australia Radio podcast, In Plain Sight. Anything you, that rings a bell with you there, Lizzie?
07:53 S3
Yeah, I think the first or the second person that was talking about the university degree. I do know a lot of blind and vision impaired people who do have a university degrees. And, you know, they they did quite well at university. They got great marks and all that sort of thing. But it didn't translate into success with gaining employment. And, I mean, no one wants to be labelled as discriminatory. No one wants to be told that they discriminated or be taken to court for that. So they'll often find lots of other reasons why you're not the suitable candidate, because no one wants to be outright known as a discriminatory organisation or person.
08:32 S2
I guess what I find amazing, and it's kind of, it reminds me of the supermarkets when they do their shrinkflation or they, you know, put prices up and then put the things on special so that the special is exactly the same as the original price is. They just seem to assume that they're getting away with it, that people aren't wise to what they're doing. And I think it's really is a shame that a certain organisations, even government departments put up with this kind of thing.
09:04 S3
Yeah, I think it's quite sad really, because we want to be as much of the part of the workforce as anybody else, especially if this person, you know, whoever they might be, has gone out to actually take the time and get the qualification to needed. It's not fair to reject them just based on their disability. And yeah, like I said, I don't think anyone wants to be outright sued for discrimination or labelled as an organisation that that does that. So they'll find a million other reasons.
09:33 S2
The other factor, of course, is and yes, I've been out in the workplace and I've never lodged any complaints about that because you become that person that's lodged a discrimination complaint and that actually hampers your ability to get work as well. So it's, it may be illegal to discriminate against somebody who has a disability, but, there's no consequences if you do.
09:56 S3
Yeah, well I find the court of public opinion or is often against those that complain too often. I mean, if you don't complain, things will never get changed. But if you complain too often, you are that person. You know, that's always crying victim where it's I think it's a case of, Well, actually, no, I'm just complaining because I'm constantly getting discriminated against just based on my disability. So it's tricky. It's really tricky now, as...
10:21 S2
We have not heard, um, back from anybody yet, we are going to play the Latvian clog dance. And enough of that. We know there is such a thing as having way too much fun.
10:49 S3
Oh, wow. Lacey and I were absolutely, we are our dancing shoes on and we were going for it. It was so much fun. I think that's my favorite.
10:58 S8
Oh, well.
10:59 S2
There's there's more to come. Trust me anyway.
11:02 S3
All right, you know what? I reckon they should do this quickly. They should put like a techno beat behind that and make a great rave track out of. I can see all the young 20 somethings going crazy.
11:11 S2
Oh, and, well, it is party central over there in Latvia as they're clearing the clogs out of the toilets.
11:18 S3
Yes! Haha. Okay.
11:20 S2
Anyway, next we are hearing from Kylie, Jody and Lisa.
11:26 S1
After losing my job eight years ago due to being diagnosed with RP, I kind of didn't know where I'd fit in. I could no longer do that position. And beginning of last year I reached out to local job agencies, disability job agencies, not knowing what I was going to do and connect connected. There was a really great employment consultant, and she supported me. I'm on voluntary, so. It was something I wanted to do and I ended up getting a job there. So now I work at the agency, the Disability job agency. Before I got diagnosed, I was in the Ain, working in community aged care in people's homes, palliative care and high care dementia and really did love my job because, yeah, circumstances being I didn't know I could get up. He knew I was a carrier.
So yeah, it was a bit of a in that day. The diagnosis was given, my life flipped upside down because my license was then taken in that one day, and I still had clients the next day, and I had to just cease employment there and then. So yeah, it was pretty full on.
12:57 S9
My first job was, with a news agency in Melbourne. And it was about nine months after I left school. And that was the average time back then to find a job. It was just a basic job, you know, picking up some returns from some news agencies and, and that sort of thing. They wanted me to ride a pushbike in the city, I think, to speed up the deliveries and the and the pick ups. And my dad wasn't very impressed with that at the time. And he went and told them that I was vision impaired. And you were a couple of weeks after after that, I didn't work there anymore. So that was the first experience.
The second experience. I worked for the federal public service. They were pretty, pretty good, actually. We entered the, I entered the public service through a test, like most people do, but, um, people with disabilities got, I think it was twice as long to do the test or something. And I worked there for, I think it was 15 or 18 years, and that that wasn't a terribly bad experience. You know, they were pretty, pretty good with most things. And then I decided that I really didn't want to work in the public service anymore. So I left, and I haven't had a job since.
14:15 S3
Have you ever faced any discrimination due to your vision impairment?
14:19 S9
Yes, yes, I certainly have. I did apply for another job at a news agency once. I think it was before I got the first job. And I went in there, and I... wear glasses. I have Rod Monochromatism or I think they call it something, achromatopsia these days. And I went in and I did the interview, and the man said, Oh, we can't hire you because little old ladies can't see your eyes and they won't be able to trust you.
14:47 S3
Wow. Really? They actually said that to you?
14:49 S9
They actually said that to me. And I was pretty devastated at the time, and I was going to take them to whatever tribunal was around at the time. But then, I think I must have got the next job and I didn't, I didn't bother with that. But in hindsight, I should have for the next person that came along.
15:06 S3
I can't believe that, the audacity to say something like that!
15:10 S9
We're going back a long time. But, you know, there wasn't the sort of the equal opportunity employment that there is now back then. But yeah, it was obviously something that stayed with me because I still remember it. So. Yeah.
15:28 S10
In the years before world we had a hard migration a bit better. I was able to find employment and stuff. I've had jilted exes and a few other ones, but one of the ones early on when I actually was open about my vision impairment, I did get a job, but I ended up being fired because I was color blind. Oh, and that was in, uh, respite care. And part of the job was to label things as they come in and write them down on a piece of paper, and they had to put what color things were. And, you know, girls would come in with different coloured nail polishes. And of course, I couldn't tell them apart. I sitting there going, Well, why can't you just label all the products that come in with their name instead of trying to figure out what colors things are? But because it was too much problem and I had to get so much help, they just said sorry, bye.
16:18 S3
So with that will be said, have you ever faced discrimination due to your vision impairment?
16:23 S10
Well, yeah, there's been a lot of that and obviously they can't necessarily say it directly because of what disability discrimination laws and whatnot. Yeah. But some of the things you can say, like they coming up with excuses and you're just like, Yeah, I know what you're saying.
16:39 S3
So it's never been outright and blatant.
16:42 S10
No. Even in the case that I mentioned before about being just fired because of my colour blindness, they didn't even tell me that. They actually said, Oh, well, you're just not learning as fast as we want. Honestly, I was only there for four days in total, and it was somebody who worked in the organisation who was able to tell me, Hey, look, they put this down on your file.
17:08 S2
It's fascinating how rigid workplaces are in that there's no room or whatsoever to change something if you happen to have a disability. It's something I've noticed in a lot of places I've worked as well. We want things done this way, and there's no way we're going to change the way it's done.
17:31 S3
Isn't that the aim of the job providers these days, though, to actually go into the workplace and help to make sure that any modifications that are necessary are carried out?
17:43 S2
It is in theory, but I think, in the cases we're looking at here with... I mean, I actually think it's interesting that if you had the qualifications, you would have a better chance of getting work because you're a cool girl with a guide dog, and they will shift heaven and earth if earth, if they want a token disabled person. But a lot of us actually don't look disabled enough, and it's, oh, I don't think it's worth their while to make the required changes.
18:15 S3
Yeah. It's almost like when these token people are employed, it's all about marketability. Like, they might not necessarily be equipped for the position, but if they can be marketed.
18:24 S2
That's right, that's right. And I know I've frequently found that it's always been the limited limitation of getting promotions is that there's steps you can take. But the job that's one step up. There's this one task that stops you from getting it. There's nothing stopping, say, the task at that particular task being shifted over to somebody else who might really like doing that job. But, yeah, it's, yeah, it's a case of this stubbornness, that this is the way we've always done it. And we are definitely not going to change the way we do things just for someone with a disability.
19:03 S3
Yeah, it's quite sad, really, because as I said before, I just reiterate the point that there are a lot of us out there that want to enter the workforce, that are well qualified to do so, and we can't just because of things like that, you know, obstacles deliberately being put in our way to make things harder. And unfortunately, a lot of people give up and that's fair enough. I mean, if it seems like it's going to be a constantly uphill battle, then I can't I can't see why you wouldn't give up. But, you know, however, meant to get anywhere if these obstacles are constantly put in our place, put in front of us and say, this is...
19:40 S2
The funny thing is, I mean, job markets change constantly. And we've seen, you know, job shortages, and through the pandemic and things like that. But yes, a lot of us did give up. And, so the opportunities were probably out there, but they could not find the workers. And I think also because they weren't actually looking for for people like us, they were looking for fully able bodied people who are compliant in, in that. So, not having the people from overseas who do not question things, who can just arrive and will follow orders, that was tricky for them. And again, there was not the flexibility to sort of look and think, you know what? If I just change 1 or 2 things about the way that this job works, then maybe I can get someone who will last longer and probably do the job better.
Because I face it, people like us, we find workarounds, so we do. If something can't be done at a basically the same, same standard way, then we'll find a way around it. We'll... memorise something as opposed to constantly looking at looking it up. Or...
20:55 S3
Exactly. Our whole lives are dedicated to working around things, you know, and that's the nature of any disability, really is if you can't do it the conventional way, you find a workaround. And it would not be hard for agencies or companies to to make the same workarounds. And being visually impaired or blind, we can't go to the same fallback jobs that everyone else would do. You know, like driving for Uber or being a food delivery driver or something like that. I mean, that's not an option for us. So that also makes things very hard because we don't have any sort of like fallback jobs that we can just lean on if we should need it.
21:34 S2
And when do we actually tell people that we actually have a disability? This is the question as well. It's something I'd I'd like to, uh, ask an expert if this person actually calls because, I mean, if you put it in your resume or put it in your cover letter, chances are you won't even get an interview.
21:51 S3
Exactly. And so what do you do? I mean, I can't not disclose. I mean, I could not disclose it in my in my resume. Maybe I could leave it out. But the minute I get to the interview process, it's going to be pretty obvious that anyone. Without a visual impairment, obviously, that I'm blind, so there's no way for me not to disclose that. And therefore, is it better for me to say so in the resume, or just rock up and surprise the heck out of him?
22:19 S2
My last job, I actually the first time they heard that I had a disability was when I rocked up and I had my large screen. I sort of said, Yes, I've got to use this because I can't see properly. So throughout that, no, there was no mention at all. I think if they dug deep enough and looked into because, I mean, on my cover, there was a picture of me running and... that was actually from the Paralympics. So they might have asked, Okay, so you were at the Paralympics. You have a disability, obviously. And I mean, this is, the degree also is, I scrubbed, made sure my CV was scrubbed of any mention of disability. So that meant that sitting on any boards like the Australian Blind Sports Federation or Blind Sports SA, that was not mentioned, my Paralympic history was not mentioned because if I'm a Paralympian, obviously I have a disability and that would that restricted my chances.
23:07 S3
This is where your IT job...
23:08 S2
Right. That's right, that's right. Yeah I mean they found it. So yeah, they found out pretty quickly that I had a disability. But by the time I that was it, I had a full-time job and they couldn't get rid of me.
23:17 S3
Exactly. But my whole thing is I isn't a CV or resume supposed to be a complete history of your work, including any voluntary positions that you might have held? I can see why you would have, you know, withheld that information because you wanted to scrub, like to not mention the fact that you had a disability. But it's quite sad when you actually have to leave out valuable experiences because you don't want to be discriminated against.
23:43 S2
It is. And, that there's a fundamental problem. I'm hoping things are better now. And if we do speak to somebody with that... experience, maybe they can say, all right, it's all different now. Do you think things have changed? But in the meantime, we did ask our panel of experts, when is the right time to disclose that you have a disability?
24:05 S9
Finally had a couple of jobs and obviously the public service one, they knew obviously that that first job, I don't think I told them, Oh, I must have told them I was a visually impaired. And then, you know, they said about the glasses and then the next job. I don't think I mentioned it because I was... pretty upset about the previous interview. But as I said, that was just a pretty basic job. You I mean, I had I have I'm lucky that I have reasonably good sight so I could sort of fudge my way around it. So, yeah, I that's my experience. I haven't really had to... disclose it.
24:49 S10
Well, now I have to disclose it right away. It's kind of hard to hide. Yep. Because my vision is getting worse. And again, it's one of those sort of things that, you know, they're going to take into consideration. And it gets to the point where you have to be more qualified than than the other person in all of them. She'll overlook your vision impairment. I don't actually look vision impaired until you see me reading. Or you may, you know, you might see me with a guide dog or the cane, which obviously lets people know that I'm vision again. But just to look at me...
25:24 S11
Well, in my case, Sam, it's it's pretty obvious that I do have a disability because, I am legally blind in my left eye, but, never fully formed. And so people would often ask, oh, you know... What can you see out of your left eye? And that's that's another conversation we'll get back to later. But, you know, I think, it's a conversation starter. It can be an opportunity to say, Here's what I can say, and here is what my disability is. But it also doesn't prevent me from doing, you know, X, Y and Z and all that sort of thing.
26:09 S12
So I've only had one other job, other other than self-employment. And that was, uh, I did that after I had the job. Um, so when I got the job at Kohl's, I, uh, had a relatively good resume and, uh, got away with, uh, not not telling him. Um, but, yeah, that's a really tricky one. If you make yourself look stupid walking into things or kind of get away with pretending not to be blind, it's it's a hard one to do so. And it depends on the job, I think.
26:41 S2
And it remains a tricky thing. Because if they find out, sometimes before you actually get the job, they will be twice as resentful, because why didn't you tell us? And I think the answer is quite clear. And no, I mean, if you could get away with not looking disabled, I'm pretty sure you'd be doing the same as... those of us that can. And Lisa had pretty much doubled down on on what I was saying regarding that.
27:09 S3
Exactly. She does point out the thing again that you have to be overly qualified, almost you have to be the most qualified and the most experienced candidate in order to get that job. And even then, I don't think that that is necessarily always going to stack in your favor.
27:28 S2
No, because then they'll simply say you're overqualified. So, there's there's always an excuse. And that's seems to be the philosophy of if you've got a problem, then you simply rename it so that it doesn't sound like it's a problem anymore.
27:41 S3
Yeah. And that's other thing too. I wanted to say quickly is, you know, I don't think this is us complaining or being bitter because we can't get employment because there's plenty of blind and visually impaired people that have studied after high school and gone on to have fully successful careers and all the power to them. It's just that unfortunately, for a lot of us, it isn't as easy to do that.
28:05 S2
Yeah, and I think those of us out there that have worked their entire time, I mean, one of one of the beauties of if you have a job, it's a lot easier to get another job.
28:17 S3
Exactly.
28:18 S2
Yeah. It can be a struggle if you're older, but and if you've got a nice, healthy CV behind you, then it makes you a lot more employable. So yes, the irony being, if you're working, then yes, you're going to get more work. But that is also why volunteer work is just so important. And that's how face it, I got this job is I was volunteering and, I caught people's attention. So I mean, that's one solution is when in doubt, get out there and volunteer.
28:49 S3
Exactly. And I've done a lot of volunteering in, in the years since I left high school. And I think I wouldn't have got this job without my experience at the other community radio station. I wouldn't have had the confidence to even pursue a career here. But I think volunteering just shows a possible future employers that you are willing to commit yourself to a weekly routine and to actually do the work and get it done.
29:18 S2
And Izzy, again, this is another question I would have asked if, say, the people at Vision Australia employment development had answered their phone or replied to an email. But in the meantime, let's listen to the Lithuanian vodka shuffle. Wow. Doesn't it just make you want to... grab a cruiser and crush it?
29:50 S3
Yeah. I mean, it doesn't really sound like a shuttle to me. It sounds more like a stumble, but. Hey. Yeah, I mean, that sounds like the end of... every Saturday night.
29:59 S2
So let's listen to Sam and the two Stevens.
30:03 S11
Well, it's been tricky, Sam, because a lot of places you go to, you go to say, you know, job agencies or something like that, and you tell them you don't have a driver's license because obviously, being vision impaired, it's very dangerous for me to be out on the road. I don't think anyone would want me out there. But, you know, you get you get these shocked expressions and people saying, Oh my God, you know, you're not going to get a job without a driver's license. What are you doing? You know, and that creates its whole thing. But then you have to, you know, it's an opportunity to have conversations and say, well, you don't need a driver's license to do A, B, and C, you can do various other ways. You can go, you know, public transport, get taxis, Ubers, that sort of thing.
So, I guess from that standpoint, the transports are a big, big issue. But also you get the question, How are you going to do this job? And there are ways you can answer that. You say, Oh, you know, there's a lot of adaptive technology out there, especially these days. It's becoming easier than ever. And the cost is really negligible. A lot of people say, Oh no, that costs too much. You'd be too expensive. We can't hire you. But that's, that couldn't be anything. You know, that couldn't be any further from the truth. And, you know, there are places such as Vision Australia who can come in and do workplace assessments and really set up that technology. It really not much cost and not much time at all.
31:42 S13
Me? Terribly, I haven't been able to get any work since leaving school - apart from like odd jobs, mowing lawns, a bit of gardening. I my main stream, the work I like to do is working in music shops and stuff like that. So I haven't been lucky enough to be able to pursue that.
31:58 S2
What is the feedback been when you've actually gone for these jobs?
32:01 S13
Not great. I have, I've been told like, like I've even been overqualified. Too old, too young, unexperienced, too much experience. You know, the same thing. Whatever they'll say to try to like, you know, to get rid of you once, once they see the cane, you're sort of a liability. However I have, I have snuck oddly, like, not told a few people that I was blind, and, yeah, they got a bit narky when I walked into something, you know, and they said, What's wrong with your eyes? And I'm like, well, I'm actually vision impaired... Next! You know?
32:43 S12
So very frustrating. So yes, I found the attitude of disablement being a big problem or the assumption of being more disabled, not being able to do things much more of a problem than I would have liked, rather than looking at what the potential was. And, even when I did have a job at Coles during nightfall, the my ability to Armstrong a number of times by having bad managers how to either talk to me about how to utilise my potential or where I was best suited, or what what made it easier or harder for me to work. So I had a couple of good managers who went, Okay, you're good at this. This solve you, you work by by memory, knowing where the products are. So we'll put you in the same aisle every night. You'll memorise it and you'll be quick, rather than putting you in five different hours and expecting you to have memory of five hours that put you in 1 or 2, you memorise them better and be quicker. But, so that was a bit of a an eye opener.
But yeah, getting employment was always an issue as well. Same sort of thing. Not having a driver's license was a real, real headache no matter what the job was, whether it needed a license or not, whether it was relevant and, yeah. So but yeah, main reason I went to self-employment really, was that I knew what I was capable of doing. And it was an industry, an industry where self-employment is common. And I can just do my own thing, be independent, run how I want, the hours I want, and, it's really good.
34:27 S3
Have you ever faced any discrimination due to vision impairment?
34:30 S12
Absolutely. So, as I say, like it was rarely said that, it was, I didn't get a job of because of my disability, but it was definitely evident. And then even when I was working at Coles, I was, I was. Use training and those sorts of things. They didn't want me to task. I just believe I was given a chance to do it. All those sorts of things.
34:57 S2
The driver's license thing. This is... it's a it's a plague in it's own... right. I think, I mean, apparently if you turn a driver's license over, there is a writing on the back that says this should not be used as any other form of identification unless by the Motor Transit Authority. And yet it's used for that all the time.
35:24 S3
Yeah. I always feel like people have forgotten that public transport exists, and I didn't actually know that about the driver's license at all.
35:31 S2
It's a matter of convenience, I think, for government nowadays, because yes, they can pull the... files from the MTA and... verify your identity, but it's actually not what it's there for. Driver's license is there to show that you are allowed to drive a car. And I don't think a lot of potential employers run that through that. Not everybody has a driver's license.
35:59 S3
No, I don't know, like, I think it's just such a natural thing. Everyone's got one. So, you know, it's kind of unusual for them to find people that don't.
36:08 S2
And there must be something wrong with us if we don't. So, I mean, I've constantly joked with people when they said, Do you have a driver's license? And I've said, well, I've got one of those ones that allow me to drive on the footpath. Of course, I don't have a driver's license. I'm blind.
36:21 S3
I say something similar. I'm like, yeah, I have a driver's... I have a driver's license. I have a license to drive people up the wall. I drive people insane, all that sort of thing, you know?
36:29 S2
So, I think people are getting a little bit tired of my collection of... Balkan folk music, so I might, no, skip, the next one. It was a rather unpleasant Bulgarian market buying spree.
36:45 S3
But why would you do that, Sam? Why would you deprive me of the opportunity to listen to some more Balkan music?
36:51 S2
I don't know, I'm getting this vibe that, it might be a bit old, the Sami in some ways. So, anyway, let us hear our final two people. And that is Kirsten and Roberto.
37:07 S15
Oh my goodness. I can't tell you the amount of jobs I've applied for and not got anything.
37:14 S2
That sort of is a particular barrier. I mean, the one I find the most interesting is that you'll often see in a, in the actual required postings is, you know, Driver's license required. Yeah.
37:26 S16
Yes. Yep.
37:27 S15
Driver's license or another one is like in, getting to and independently getting to and from places, which is like, Yeah, that's easy, but I'm at the mercy of public transport.
37:40 S2
Yeah. Some out of hours may be required. Yes.
37:43 S15
Yes. Every form creates sort of its own thing or what is it, any accessibility requirements. And you put them down and you're like, Yeah, there goes my chances.
37:54 S2
Yeah. That's one of the things that I stood out to me usually is we are... an equal opportunity employer, and I think they're the worst.
38:04 S15
Oh, mate, I heard somebody tell me once it's like, inclusion is more than just putting in a wheelchair ramp. And I'm like, sadly, true.
38:17 S17
Employment has been very good when I had employment. And then, of course, on the other side of the coin, very bad. Couldn't find work because they wanted a current Northern Territory driver's license. And quite often they can't usually obtain an insurance while you're on the job, so you cannot be employed. So it can be a little bit challenging at times.
38:47 S2
So what we will be doing in future is actually doing a different show that actually looks at things from the other side as well. So from people that have worked their entire lives that have had or not had that problem, maybe, maybe they can help us out.
39:02 S3
Maybe. Well, I mean, they say that when in Rome you should do as the Romans do. So maybe we can pick up a few tips from them if you are listening.
39:10 S2
Now. And you've had little or no problems getting work, then drop us a line. We. Our email is available for that exact reason. So, please, please let us let us know. Help some of us out.
39:24 S3
Yes. Please do get in contact at studio1@visionaustralia.org. We do read our emails don't we. Send.
39:32 S2
We certainly do. And well, when I can get around to looking at the mailbox. Anyway. So that is a wrap for this week. A big thank you to Loki, Paul Simon, Kylie, Jody, Lisa, the irrepressible Sammy C and the two Stevens, Kirsten and Roberto.
39:53 S3
And of course, thank you for listening.
39:55 S2
Next week, we give football a go.
39:58 S3
More like I give football ago. And you just talk to a few people.
40:02 S2
We look at the sport of blind soccer and chat to the coach of the Australian women's team.
40:08 S3
But between now and then, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience with any of the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or whether you think there's something we should be talking about, you never know. Your story and insight may help someone who's dealing with something similar.
40:24 S2
Our email address is studio1@visionaustralia.org - that's studio number one, at Vision Australia dot org.
40:31 S3
And of course you can drop us a note on our Facebook page at facebook.com slash VA Radio Network. We would love to hear from you.
40:40 S2
And please let us know if you want to hear more Latvian clog dancing.
40:44 S3
I know I certainly do.
40:47 S1
Vision Australia Radio gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation for Studio 1.
