Sport legends, groundbreaking tours, child health breakthroughs and more

Vision Australia ID 0:02

This is a Vision Australia radio podcast.

Sarah 0:04

Hi. I'm Sarah Ryan. I am three-time Olympian, a gold and silver medallist and an SA Hall of Famer. And you're listening to Leisure Link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia Radio network.

Peter 0:40

it's just gone five o'clock, and with the auto Equinox happening literally as we speak, we channel a bit of Debbie do when balanced on one foot to get a bit more balanced in your life. And also allow me to welcome you to leisurely here on business Australia radio, 1197 aim at Adelaide online at VO radio.org, VO radio digital with Adla and Darwin through the community radio Plus app, your favorite podcast or streaming service our friends listening through 103.9 hope effemine, experts in Western Australia and their other friends at Disability media Australia, thank you for your wonderful support. You can catch the link on their website and lots of other good information as well. Powerd dot media, P, O, W, E, R, D, dot media, Peter Greco saying, tremendous to be here once again. This program coming to you from Ghana land. Thank you for making time to listen to us coming up on the program. Very shortly we speak to Sarah Ryan o AM. Olympic gold medalist, has just been inducted into the Hall of Fame for South Australia, and also doing some very interesting work. We'll find out more from Sarah. We'll catch up with Lachlan Wallace talking about blind cricket and a wonderful opportunity for our women blind cricketers, a first coming up very soon. Welcome those messages, and also big cheerio to our women quickers, who are at a training camp, literally as we speak. We'll also catch up with Minister for Human Services, Nat cook talk about advanced care directives, a very important message. Nat will share that with us. We'll speak to Jonathan akissa, who will talk to about rheumatoid arthritis, particularly amongst young children. What is happening as far as breakthroughs go there? We'll also catch up with Raghu bag one from an organization called Yarrow Valley Water, along with the drasker, they're doing some great work as far as providing opportunities for people with disabilities in employment. We'll also speak to Jason Bryce from cash, welcome not very happy about some comments the Reserve Governor Michelle Bullock made regarding cash. Jason will talk to us about that, and we'll also be joined by Rachel Lance from WWF, birth hour coming up later on tonight, Rachel will give us some information to help with your health and our planet's health? Well, I'm absolutely delighted to welcome the program. Sarah Ryan o AM, been to three Olympic Games, has won gold and silver medals, as well as recently inducted into sa Hall of Fame. Sarah, welcome, congratulations. Great to meet you and thanks for your time. Oh,

Sarah 3:22

Oh, thank you, Peter. It's actually really lovely to to be on and to have a chat today. And yes, I'm very, very overwhelmed, I think, by the recognition that I've received recently, which is lovely.

Peter 3:36

I guess, when you touch first and win a gold medal, that's kind of that exhilaration. Hall of Fame is a little bit different, but still very nice.

Sarah 3:43

Yeah, you're right, because obviously you're very focused on your immediate goals as an athlete. So you're right. When you race, you touch the wall, you you know your place, and if you are fortunate enough to be on the dice, then you get rewarded for that result straight away. But yeah, to think I've been retired over 20 years now, and to sort of get that recognition to be inducted in the essay Hall of Fame, it was really surreal for me, because it really does feel like a lifetime ago that I was an athlete, and obviously now I feel like I'm in a different phase of my life. So it just brought about a lot of reflection, and I guess also just the opportunity to say thank you. Back to all the people who supported me for so long, which was really lovely to do. and

Peter 4:32

And you said you've been a retired 20 years. I was going to say you started very young, but of course, you started very young, like most swimmers do,

Sarah 4:39

that's right, I was actually, I wasn't too young. I started actually in a squad about 12 years old. So some swimmers are a lot younger than that. So I was really fortunate to not be too young and and also, I think I was really lucky that I had the sort of the the gradual success through school competition and. State competition, and then onto the national scene. I kind of progressed quite naturally. So yeah, to think that then I had a 11 year career on the Australian team was really extraordinary.

Peter 5:12

You talked about giving back, I guess, as you say, family, those around you make a lot of sacrifices to get you where you want to go. And this is kind of a little bit of Well, thank you. You know, I've achieved, but this is kind of a bit of a thank you. Back to you. Oh,

Sarah 5:28

without doubt, Peter, you've got it absolutely right. I was so happy to have my mum and my brother in the room on the night my sister couldn't make it down from Queensland, and we lost my dad back when I was 21 so it was just lovely to be able to share the moment with them, because you're right, they sacrificed so much. Like mum was the one who was getting up at four to drive me to to the Adelaide accord X center up at North Adelaide. We lived down in the port, so yes, she was the one that did all of that driving for many, many years. But also my brother and sister, like they gave up a lot of weekend time to sit at the pool while I was racing. And they probably missed out on things that they were interested in, because my mum and dad were so, you know, I guess busy supporting me. So it is important to reflect at the time I had no idea. Obviously, I only failed on, you know what my goals are, and making training and making those competitions count. So now it's nice being a little bit older and wider to say thank you to them for supporting me as well. That

Peter 6:33

must be tough, obviously, losing your dad at 21 right in the middle of your career as well. Yeah,

Sarah 6:37

I was actually at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur when he passed, and mum let our team manager know, but they didn't actually let me know for the first two days, just because we had the freestyle relay. Yeah. So they made that decision, which was not a problem at all. So I was able to finish my race. And then when we went back to the village, they let me know. And then I guess, yeah, I just felt it wasn't right to stay for the rest of the meet, so I then came back home to Adelaide. So yeah, it was really, it was a tough certainly six months. I didn't I didn't train, I didn't go back to the AIS to be back with my teammates for about six months. But then I think what I realized was Dad got a lot of joy out of watching me race, and he wouldn't have liked if I just stopped then and there. So I sort of had to pull pull myself out, you know, up by the bootstraps, and say, Okay, let's get back into it. And fortunately, you know, then we had the 2000 Olympics to focus on, so that gave me very clear, you know, drive to want to be there for that occasion.

Peter 7:47

That's so fascinating, isn't it, because we see you athletes and we admire you, and think I'll call one another gold bed. Let's already, uh, all beer and scooters. But there's lots going on behind the scenes that we don't know, like the the duck paddling on the water exactly.

Sarah 8:01

I I think it's true for not only sports people, but for everybody in life. You just do not know what's happening behind closed doors and that everyone has a story. So it's always nice to sort of lead with a bit of understanding and empathy at times, because, yeah, nobody has a really crazy life where no challenges or obstacles come their way. It's all about, I guess, having a great support team around you, but then also recognizing, you know, the challenge is there. What am I going to learn from it, as hard as it might be, and then, yeah, becoming a bit stronger or a bit wiser or bit smarter in what you're doing.

Peter 8:40

I know that you're not living in South Australia at the moment, but in terms of the people that are in the SA Hall of Fame, you're kind of aware of the company that you're in. I mean, you sit there very deservedly, but it's incredible company that you're in, isn't it? Other Hall of Famers?

Sarah 8:55

It is. And can I say I actually didn't know what to expect on the night, I was really overwhelmed by some of the familiar faces that were there. It was lovely. I was actually presented by two outstanding other South Australian swimmers in Phil Rogers, who I trained with and went on many teams with for a long, long time, and Matthew Cowdrey, one of our greatest Paralympics. Oh yes, we know Matthew very well, yeah. So I just thought that was a beautiful touch to have them a part of the night for me. But also, yes, you're right to see those that are already on the Hall of Fame. And I'm just so excited now that anytime that I'm going to go down to the Adelaide Oval, I can just wander over to that stadium and just see you know that fantastic display of accomplished athletes and that, you know, I'm I'm up there, which is just incredible, really. Oh, you certainly

Speaker 1 9:51

deserve it, Sarah, we obviously heard about the Hall of Fame, and great that you've made yourself available to chat to us. But there's a kind of art. After your sporting career, chapter of your life that sort of fascinates us as

Sarah 10:04

well. Oh, that's good. I'm glad it fascinates you. Well,

Speaker 1 10:08

we obviously talk a lot about disability on this program, and that's kind of where you're now ensconced. Yeah, it's,

Sarah 10:13

it's, actually, it's funny how life takes you in different directions. I I remember training in Canberra with a wonderful friend of mine, Judy young, and she was a Paralympian, and we're still friends today. She was a bridesmaid of mine, but I never appreciated how hard it was for her. You know, back then in the late 80s, early 90s, as a swimmer with a disability, is wonderful to see, now that the focus is is becoming very, very strong, and the support with the current, you know, government funding for the power up with Instagram for identifying future champions in sport. But yes, I'm working at the moment in South West Sydney at a beautiful place calledMater Dei. And we are an organiSation that supports families of children with intellectual disability. So we have a school from kindy to year 12. We have a preschool program, and we also have a post school where we work with young adults. And we also have therapy services. So some of our families could actually be in our care from when they get early diagnosis, from the age of, you know, one or two years old, all the way through to maybe, you know, 25 or 26 years old, when they're just trying to still work on life skills, or, you know, travel training or how to handle money and life skills. So, yeah, it's just wonderful, because I think I get more out of, you know, interacting with the students and the young adults than I give because they're just, they're beautiful. You know, they have they love coming to school, they love being here, and it's their safe place. And it's wonderful to be a part of an environment where you are able to do that for somebody.

That's such a powerful message. Sarah, I've had a look at your website at sex that I recommend it to other people don't look at if they've never heard of the organisation, which I hadn't. I love the way you spell Dei [day].

Oh yeah, yeah, dei, yeah,yeah. I mean, we've heard so much about D-E-I in the last few weeks. Oh, it's the equity inclusion,absolutely. And this is probably so important, the message of inclusion and ability, you know, being able to recognise the strengths in people just because they're different, or just because they're, you know, neurodiverse, or they've got a different way of operating or thinking. It's really about exposing people in our community who have never interacted with someone with disability and showing them they are so capable and they are, you know, beautiful people to have in your life. We just have to, yes, we just have to include them. We just have to give them a chance and support them. And that's very much our motto is about inclusion and showing the strengths of of everybody. Because, yes, again, we all have challenges. Like, there's no way I am perfect, but I'm very fortunate that I've had great people around me to, you know, pull up my weaknesses and and help support me at times. So that's what we all need. We just need people in our corner. How did you get into that? Well, I had a beautiful friend who who worked here, who I knew from just connections through sport. So she suggested I come across. She said, I think you'll like it here. And, um, yep, she was so right. So it I think I've been here eight years now.

Peter 13:22

Because I guess often we hear about athletes, and you know, when they stop competing, they've got to kind of find their relevance again. And it sounds like you've definitely found yours.

Speaker 2 13:30

It's true, isn't it? It's a big change when you retire from sport, when, especially as a young athlete, when you focus so much on really yourself, that to then, yeah, find a new passion or cause, or, yeah, some way of, yeah, being able to give back. And definitely, that's how we feel here that we we're trying to make a difference every day in some small way, whether it's interacting with our our families or even with the community. And also, we do fundraising and we try to raise awareness. So yeah, every day is different, which is really, it's really good, really fun.

Peter 14:03

M, A, T, E, R, D, E, I, dot org, dot A, U is the website, Sarah. We could talk for hours, but you know how radio works, it doesn't allow us to do that. But again, congratulations. Just so pleased that I about your recognition, and great to know that you're doing some tremendous things back in the community. So we wish you well, and thanks again for speaking to us.

Speaker 2 14:22

Oh, thank you, Peter. It's a thrill to be involved in just a little way in your show today and keep doing the great work you're doing as well.

Peter 14:31

You're very kind. Sarah Ryan, there, OAM, with that wonderful... recognised very recently as a member of the South Australian Sport Hall of Fame. Almost exciting... as far as flying cricket goes, this is pretty much right out of the box to chat more about. We've got the Australian player and Captain, the South Australian team, Lachlan Wallace... Lachie, good to catch up.

Lachlan 14:57

Peter, always good to chat.

Peter 14:58

Now, this sounds pretty exciting.

Lachlan 15:00

Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Peter. One of my roles, as you would know, is the assistant coach of the Australian women's team, and we've just announced publicly our series against Pakistan coming up for the girls. So the Australian women's team will play their first ever series in Australia, which is really exciting, and Pakistan will be the touring team to come on down and challenge us for the first time ever as well. We've never played Pakistan. Of course, the girls have played once before in England, Birmingham, at the ITSI games, where they got to play India and England. But for the first time too, I believe this is Pakistan's first ever series. So a lot of a lot of first times coming up in in April, in Brisbane.

Peter 15:40

was gonna ask you about that, because, as you mentioned, we spoke to the girls, of course, the first time with the Australian women's team being represented in IPSA, but that was against India and England, but Pakistan wasn't there, so this might be their first international game on it.

Speaker 3 15:54

Yeah, I believe it is. I could be wrong, but I do believe it is. I think England was really exciting for a lot of people, and a lot of countries have have watched that and wanted to be a part of it. And Nepal will have a pretty good program as well. They've actually beaten India several times. And I do believe the USA also now have a women's team as well as a men's team.

Peter 16:15

Well, blind cricket, going for the strength for strength. I mean, I guess you can't tell us too much about the Pakistan team.

Lachlan 16:20

No, that's right. They're a little bit of a little bit of an unknown, but it's been, it's been nearly two years since we've played ourselves, so we've got much better, and they're not going to know what to expect either, just about the venue and when it's all happening and kind of, how many matches the format, all that sort of stuff. Yeah. So all 20s for the girls in Brisbane, we will play 520s from the 20th of April until the 25th Yeah, so across six days, there'll be a rest day in between all the information, of course, as always, is on our blind cricket Australia social media channels, but yeah, five games across six days for the girls, we think they'll, they'll handle that really well. And we've got a training camp in Adelaide this weekend, so we're going to select our final 15 players, okay?

Peter 17:10

And there'll be some really competitive cricket to prepare them as well this weekend, I guess, from sort of an organizational point of view, this hasn't just happened. It's been kind of in the pipeline for some time.

Lachlan 17:21

Yeah. Taylor Portone, our head coach and BCA Development Officer for women's cricket and myself, have worked really hard to get this across the line. And of course, all the board have put in a lot of work from BCA to make sure we've had enough funding to secure the series. And Ray Moxley with his partnerships, of course, with all the international countries working with a really good, close working relationship with Pakistan to get them to come across. And we had a lot of excitement from different countries that were keen to come and play. So Australia is certainly a place where people are interested and want to come and play in, which is always great for us.

Peter 17:59

What about theAustralian team? As you said, a couple of years since the girls played at Birmingham, I guess there's been a few sort of new hats thrown into the ring. As far as possible Selection goes.

Lachlan 18:09

Definitely, always new players coming onto the scene. It was really positive to see this year NCRC, we had two teams play throughout the whole week, so lots of new players. We in fact, we couldn't even round it down to a final squad at Nationals, which was sort of a plan, but everyone impressed that much. We needed to step away and give give people another opportunity to prove themselves. So we've got 20 girls coming to Adelaide this weekend that we'll select a final 15 from there.

Peter 18:36

Okay, well, for Yeah, 20 to 15 doesn't go even when I did math, so it's gotta be some disappointed girls, but I guess that's, you know, kind of playing elite sport, isn't it? You gotta kind of understand that sometimes you don't get selected.

Speaker 3 18:50

That's right. And as the program continues to move into the high performance space, hopefully along similar lines to the men's program at the moment, that's the type of goals that we were set, that we had to try and boost participation. And all the states across the country have worked really hard to do that. So it's really positive to see in a way, people obviously are going to be disappointed when they're not selected, but I think everyone understands the competitive environment that that creates, and of course, all round, for every stay in for Australia, it creates a much better female program across the country.

Peter 19:27

Look, you... don't be modest. I mean, you do have a lot of fingers in many parts when it comes to blind cricket. But How hard have you worked to this, and how, how big a job has it been to, well, a for the Australian team, but also to pull something like this off to get Pakistan to be coming here, maybe for their first international tour. I mean, that's I'd imagine, it would have taken a lot of work, yeah,

Speaker 3 19:48

fairly time consuming. The last our selection camp was originally planned to be in Brisbane the weekend that the cyclone hit. So currently that, yeah. Early that week, we had to cancel that, and it has been crazy ever since trying to plan. Really fortunate having the camp in SA, we have some amazing volunteers from Blind cricket South Australia who have opted to jump in and help with some lunches and some food and travel and everything they can, which is amazing, but it's certainly been a lot of lot of work. But the girls also are working very hard at home, wherever that may be, to to train and prepare themselves for a series. And it's been too long since they've been out of play for Australia. So it's about time that they get they get to show off that hard work.

Peter 20:36

Where's the camp in Adelaide?

Lachlan 20:37

The camp will be all around Adelaide. So Saturday, we're going to be at university oval Part 12. Sunday, Adelaide cricket club have come on board, and they've offered us their home ground down at glandor. And then on Monday, we're at West beach Adelaide Uni ovals again. So we're building some really strong partnerships in AD in Adelaide across some different career clubs, which is always, always fantastic.

Peter 20:57

20 girls, so hopefully being selected. How many states are being represented amongst those 20 girls?

Lachlan 21:02

We have someone from every mainland state which is really, really positive. To see a good, good spread from across the country.

Peter 21:10

What about kind of getting 20 girls involved here? I can remember there was probably times when, you know, there weren't very many at all playing. What's kind of engendered that? Has it kind of almost been a bit of positive peer pressure, in a sense?

Lachlan 21:23

Yeah, and I think the girls probably deserve the credit for that. Any of them that started when we initially kick started the program, I think, have then just spoken so highly of what we what we're doing, and how good the sport is that they've brought people into the game. Certainly, I think the option of having individual women's programs for the women only has been a really good trendsetter in getting people into the game, and then you find from there, they're actually really keen to then join in with the boys and and make, you, know, push themselves against the best of the men as well. So, but I think, yes, that that introduction platform of we have this space where it is just for the girls and you they can feel comfortable, and they can speak to this better than I can, but I think certainly that has been a really big driving force to get people into the game, and then from there, they've realized what possibilities are endless.

Peter 22:21

With camps this weekend, so when a team is selected, we'll catch up with one of the girls before, obviously the tournament, then afterwards. What about us, without being too kind of personal, what about in terms of the financial commitment to the camp goes through till Monday? That could be a work day or a school day that week of competition. I'm not sure. It might be school holidays or not. But can you talk much about the financial commitment that the girls have to make?

Lachlan 22:45

Oh yeah, absolutely, no, absolutely. And they they definitely deserve to be recognized for the efforts they have to go to. So this camp is funded by the girls. And as you said, on top of that, they do lose, they do lose a day's work. So that's never easy the series, we've been really lucky, and we've had some fantastic sponsors come on board, achieve Australia, have just jumped on board, and we've named the series after them, so they're the naming right sponsors for the series, and that's going to be a really good ongoing partnership, we're hoping. But yeah, certainly for this weekend and past cans, they have had to contribute financially, and that's just another challenge. But I guess they've got to, they've got to make it past. And it's never ideal when you're when you have to give up, climb off work, but it just shows the passion that they have to the game. No, very true. And in Brisbane, where the games played, the games we played in a ground just south of Brisbane. I will have to find the exact details for you, but it's all also on our Blind Cricket Australia Facebook page, so all the information's up there. And if anyone is interested, it's all along on our socials, Instagram and Facebook, and you can always contact someone from Blind Cricket Australia, and we'll be more than happy to assist.

Peter 24:02

When will this squad be announced? Can you say that we will do our best to pick this squad very quickly after this weekend, and it shouldn't be long until there's some announcements coming out?

Lachlan 24:11

I see you anxious people waiting for a phone call or email or a text to say you're in or out, which is obviously part of the adrenaline rush of being selected.

Peter 24:20

Oh, Lachie, this sounds really exciting, you know, I guess the the other big thing that you're worried about, not worried about, but I guess kind of the back of your mind is, hopefully the Brisbane weather is kind to us. We know what happened during NCIC, and I wasn't aware of the cycle and effect of the last projected camp. So you deserve a bit of good weather.

Speaker 3 24:38

Yeah, I just will try not to think about that too much after it started really heavily raining to that work, and I was very quickly checking the forecast for this weekend, it had me very concerned, but it looks like we are in the clear, and I'm hoping Brisbane will be the same.

Peter 24:52

We'll keep in touch, Lachie - and well said, it's great news. And actually, just before you go, I mean, I normally do birthday calls at the end of the show, as you know, because you listen. Regularly, Michael... it's Michael [?Dennis]'s birthday today, reaching a milestone. So happy birthday to Michael.

Lachlan 25:06

Happy birthday to Michael [?Dennis]. I'm sure we'll be having a quiet one at home.

Peter 25:07

Well, I don't know if it'll be one or the best, Lachie.

Lachlan 25:14

Thank you, Peter.

Peter 25:14

So Lachie Wallace there with that, that's sensational news. I think we probably can't grasp the immensity of that, the first blind cricket tour of a women's team to Australia from Pakistan. Great news vendor, we'll keep across it as the time gets closer.

Morgan 25:33

Hi, I'm Morgan Carter canteen youth ambassador. You're listening to legend with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia Radio Network.

Song 25:40

I want to ride my bike...

Peter 25:43

Always great to welcome the Minister for Human Services here in South Australia. The program, Nat Cook. Nat, welcome.

Nat 25:50

Hi Peter. Thanks for having me. That's a pleasure.

Peter 25:52

Now you've got a very important message to share with our listeners.

Nat 25:54

Certainly do. So there's... it's twofold really, that this week is Advanced Care Planning Week. So basically, that is a week where we're raising awareness of the need to plan ahead, and importantly, prioritising the actors and completion of an Advanced Care Directive. Now that's the first part of it, which I'll talk to and give you listeners a bit of a summary on so if you are able to plan ahead, if you could make decisions, if you knew when you're going to leave the physical Earth, and you wanted to put some wishes in place that your would help your family, your loved ones, your friends, to make those decisions about your journey beyond the Earth, what would you ask them to do? How do you want your memory to be on it, in terms of putting your wishes in place? So planning ahead is the most powerful way to take agency on those decisions and at the same time, really put your mind at ease, knowing that your family and friends won't be left at a time of grief, having to make choices and decisions, to think, Oh, would she or he or they like it this way? So if you can put your wishes in place, that makes life a lot easier. But importantly, if you can put your wishes in place and your friends, your family, your circle already knows them even better. Talking about death isn't easy. It's not something we want to contemplate. I think some people absolutely get to a point in a an illness journey where it's actually for them, a contemplation that is more peaceful and calm than a fight that they're having due to pain and what have you. But for the most of us, we'd rather not just sit around the dinner table and talk about that.

Peter 27:55

Because I guess... we kind of think we might be tempting fate. You know, If I talk about it, then maybe it might happen... correct?

Nat 27:59

Correct. And that is a really excellent segue to the second part of the conversation. Some of your listeners may have heard, seen or listened to some of the online commentary about Anneliese Holland. Now Annalise is 25 years old, and for about 12 years, has been battling AAG. It is a auto immune, autonomic gangliopathy. That's my memory, and I'm not doing that from notes. So excuse me if I've got that diagnosis or that condition wrong, but I think I'm about right. Essentially, her immune system is turning on her autonomic nervous system. So the autonomic nervous system plays a powerful and important role in our regulation, our self regulation, our organ function, is part of our nervous system, and it is eating itself, and she is running out of bodily function. And rapidly, you know, her body has become challenged in terms of being able to nourish itself, receive the nourishment. So she's having major surgery again this week, and when I was given the opportunity to do a little bit of radio on some of the commercials earlier in the week, her mum heard me on radio, and she called out to Annalise to tell her that I was talking about advanced care directives and how important it was to plan. And Annalise contacted my office. She lives in my area. She contacted my office and said I heard NAT talk about how planning ahead is not just for old people, it's for young people too, and it resonated with me, and whatever I can do to help get the message out, I'd love to so she's done some TV. She's got some online coverage with the ABC and also the Tisza, and I'm really thrilled that she is able to. Tell her story. She's a really brave and a really inspiring young person. You know, we throw that inspirational word around a lot, and sometimes the people that get spoken about as inspirational don't really deserve it. Analyze deserves it. And it is true that you cannot pick your time in all cases. So if you can't pick your time, you should prepare for that with your friends and your family. And it's not only older people that should do that, it's younger people too. And the more we have the conversation, the easier it is to talk about it. And like Annaliese said, you can have it with a bit of a laugh. So she's done a great job this week, and I'm really thrilled to have another opportunity to say to people, talk with your friends and family, talk with your trusted circle. Get your advanced care directive done, get your will done, get your injury power of attorney in place. Talk about organ and tissue donation. Get all the forms done, signed, sealed, stowed away, and then tell your family and friends exactly what they say and get on with living life with the knowledge that you've prepared your family for your friends for a time when you might not be there and you're taking the stress out of their planning. So I think it's a great conversation to have.

Peter 31:16

Yeah, that was a very, very courageous piece that was on the television news last night. Nat, you talked about wills and enduring power, power of attorney... Advanced Care Directive.... I mean, these are all kind of related, but they're all separate to each other as well, aren't they? That's kind of important to get that out there.

Nat 31:30

Yeah, absolutely. So no one of these forms does all the things, but all the things sort of refer to each other, yeah, and but they do have very different standards of legal completion, the advanced care directive, you can get online, you can get from your local member of parliament. And I've said it once, I'll say it again, go to your member of Parliament's office. They've got staff there. They want you to visit the member of Parliament's office, and they often have a justice of the peace in the staff group, and they can help with that. So you can ask advice of your healthcare team about your advanced care directive, but they can't countersign it with you. You need to have somebody independent, like adjusted, little piece to do that. So that's that. Then there's the enduring power of attorney. If you become legally incapacitated, it's too late to select someone to make decisions for you. You can change any of these documents at any time, as long as you've got legal capacity and the enduring power of attorney kit is best located through the Legal Services Commission, or you may have your own family lawyer that you might refer to as well, and then the will, obviously, the laws determine how your property and estate will be divided if you don't have a legal will. So get a legal will and don't leave it to chance. And again, the Legal Services Commission of SA, they've got free info and advice, but I think probably the lawyers will all say, get a lawyer to help you to do your will. So all of those things, you can get information online. Your MP is happy to help organ and tissue donation also really important again, register as a donor. You get your intention as well. You can read, do your registration via your driver's license or through Donate Life. All you need, I think, to complete those from memory, is the Medicare card with your number. So all of those things, tick, tick, tick, tick, and then you can live your life with less worry on that.

Peter 33:29

So you've got a kid out that can also help provide a lot of information, as you said, that is available from your local MP.

Nat 33:35

Yes, your MPs can get those for you, no problem. And also

Peter 33:39

we, I mean, it's just a really important point, very powerful point. I mean, you know, you might not want to talk about it, but it's the sort of thing that, again, you touched on, that you don't want your family thinking, Oh, I wonder what would have been the outcome that they wanted. So you've kind of got it literally in writing for them to follow through, you know, almost like, you know, something from IKEA.

Nat 34:00

That's exactly right. Plan. You plan early. You can change it if you need to at any time, if relationships change, if your circumstances change, accidents, illnesses, deaths, incapacity can happen at the most inconvenient time. And if you're not prepared, it's too late at the time and when, when you're thinking, plan ahead. It's all the things, it's finance, it's health, it's legal, it's your personal wishes, wishes about your pets. I know my my mum put in advance orders about her animals, and of course, we absolutely respected those. And that was really, you know, really important for us, really important.

Peter 34:38

Well, it's kind of a, you know, a good way to hold the memory in, albeit in a bit of a different case. Now, this week has been kind of raising awareness about it, but the message, if you like, and the availability of filling this information out, is kind of all year round. I mean, good to raise it this week, but just because it's Monday next week doesn't mean the message stops.

Speaker 4 34:57

Correct. It's an all year round thing. But... these little weeks and days that we hold for various things are a good way of bringing those discussions to the surface and to the attention of media.

Peter 35:09

Nat, I know you haven't had much on this week, so thanks for speaking to us anyway.

Speaker 4 35:14

Yeah, no. Real quiet, real quiet week. Parliament - always quiet, right?

Peter 35:17

Nat, thanks again, and don't... enjoy your weekend. No worries. Nat Cook there, the Minister for Human Services and also the Minister for Aging Well - with a really important message. We'll put some links up on our show notes as well if you've missed them. And as always, if you missed any of those or can't access those, call us here at the radio station. We can also help you out. 1300 847 466. [Good to have your] company, listening to Leisure Link here on Vision Australia Radio... VA radio, dot org, and through the tune-in radio app. Well, I'm really pleased to welcome the program a rheumatologist that specialised particularly in the young children, in their health. Dr, Jonathan Akikusa, Jonathan FM, I call you that. Thank you for your time, yeah.

Jonathan 36:07

Thank you for the invitation to have the interview, Peter.

Peter 36:09

Now, one of the things about doing this program is you learn so much stuff that obviously you had no idea about, and your topic is certainly such a topic. I mean, juvenile diabetes, we kind of know about that, but there's other conditions out there that youngsters are living with that are taking quite some time to diagnose.

Jonathan 36:25

Yep, Peter, you're exactly right. I think juvenile arthritis really does tend to fly under the radar of many people, both the general public and healthcare practitioners, but in actual fact, in young children, it's as common as type one diabetes. So that gives you some idea of the scale of the problem we have in in terms of getting attention for this, this condition.

Peter 36:45

There was that professor, said many years ago, Why is this?

Speaker 5 36:48

No, yeah, it's really hard to know. I think part of it has been because really, as a specialty, pediatric rheumatology is relatively new in pediatrics and the workforce in Australia until probably the last 1520 years, really has been battling just to manage the patient load, because there are lots of children who require the attention of pediatric rheumatologists. And back in the early 2000s there were really only a small handful of pediatric rheumatologists managing the patient load in the entire country. So you can imagine, when you are that busy, you really don't have time for the sort of advocacy and awareness raising that has been possible now with not only an increased workforce, but also the help of organisations such as the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation Australia, who really have done a magnificent job in raising awareness of this, this condition, and pediatric rheumatology, more generally.

Peter 37:45

I guess it's an easy question, in a sense, but is it an easy thing to diagnose, or is a straightforward thing to diagnose?

Speaker 5 37:51

Yeah, it's a great question, Peter, I won't lie and say that it's it's very straightforward, but if you're aware of what to look for, it doesn't usually present too many problems.

Peter 38:00

Okay, what do you look for?

Speaker 5 38:04

Okay, so I think that the slogan there is a program that has been started with the support of the federal government, through funding, through a grant that Jaffa is running called the Early diagnosis program, and the symptoms that they've highlighted are painful, swollen and stiff, and that's a fair assessment and summary of the sort of symptoms that children have when they have arthritis. But it extends beyond that. It can also involve things like more subtle, things like loss of function, loss of ability to do things that they previously enjoyed. The commonest form of juvenile arthritis occurs most commonly in children who are toddlers. So you can imagine, they don't complain much of anything, and so it's really only with careful observation of them that some of the symptoms related to arthritis might actually come to light. I don't

Peter 39:00

really get too much off the topic, but obviously we talk about all sorts of disabilities and health issues on this program, and often a parent might say, I suspected that there was something not quite happening as it should with my child, and I had to do a fair bit of lobbying or advocacy to sort of get to the right conclusion. Is this such a case in point as well. Yes, I

Speaker 5 39:21

think that's fair, not for all children, but there are definitely children that we see coming to the clinic where the journey for the child and the family has been longer than would be ideal. That is absolutely true, and it's an unfortunate thing, and something that the early diagnosis program is hoping to make a thing of the past.

Peter 39:40

Is there kind of some, we talked about, some telltale science, but are there any things like in the era of blood tests or scans that can kind of reveal it a little bit earlier, and maybe, you know, sort of save a bit of that heartache of trying to get someone to recognize it? Yeah, it's a good question.

Speaker 5 39:55

Peter, so that the blood tests and scans can be helpful in. Making the diagnosis of arthritis. But certainly, blood tests can be normal, and so in actual fact, in some ways, can be misleading. The important thing is for people to understand the symptoms and for health practitioners to be familiar with not only the symptoms, but also the signs. Because if you are aware of that and your index of suspicion is high, then you can refer to an appropriate pediatric rheumatology service or a pediatric rheumatology practitioner and have your suspicions either confirmed or, you know, refuted.

Peter 40:34

I know that we've, if I can call it convectual arthritis or adult arthritis. There's different types. Is it similar for juvenile

Speaker 5 40:42

Yes, it is. So we recognise seven different types or different subtypes of juvenile arthritis, I think from a consumer perspective, that's probably an academic issue, most of them have in common, the presence of arthritis and all of the sorts of impacts that arthritis can have, and depending on the number of joints and the site of joints, the particular symptoms that arthritis will produce may be different, but the common theme will be that of musculoskeletal discomfort, pain, stiffness and interference within with function that is persistent. So I think we've all from time to time, had various aches and pains that we recognize tend to go away with time. But when you have arthritis, essentially those symptoms, once they've begun, don't go away until the arthritis is treated. And so it's really the persistence of symptoms and the type of symptoms that are a key clue to the idea that there is something going on here that is not just aches and pains.

Peter 41:43

I want to come back to the treatments in a second, but what about in terms of which joints are most affected, or again, does that depend on the individual case?

Speaker 5 41:50

Yeah, it's a good question. Peter, so I think we recognize two peaks of arthritis occurring in children. The first occurs, as I said, in younger children in toddlerhood, and that form of arthritis tends to be arthritis that affects only a few joints, and they tend to be the big joints in the lower limbs, so the knees the ankles, are typically the joints that we see affected there. The second peak tends to occur in teenagers, and we see in that group of children, more arthritis affecting more joints, more often in the upper limb, often small joints, for example, in the fingers, as well as the big joints like the wrist. And then there's another group in which we can see arthritis affecting the joints of the spine or the bottom of the spine, which again produces its very own symptom complex, quite different to the first two groups I was talking about.

Peter 42:43

And more common in males or females? Is that sort of a non- discriminatory... ?

Speaker 5 42:47

Yeah, well, it's a good question. So like most autoimmune diseases, arthritis is much more common in girls than boys. So our arthritis clinic tends to be very much full of girls. There is a form of arthritis, and this is the form that can affect the spine that is more common in boys. So we see that particularly in teenage boys, is when older, sort of late primary school, and early teenage years is when it tends to come on. And then there's a very particular form of arthritis that's very, very strange, which has an equal sex incident. So we have all different sorts of sex distributions in our different types of arthritis.

Peter 43:28

We'll come to the treatments in a moment, I promise. But you've done work internationally as well. I mean, does Australia, well, stand out more in terms of more cases? Does it sort of evenly spread throughout the world, sort of more developed, less developed countries?

Speaker 5 43:42

Yeah, well, so there's this, there's a equal prevalence around the world. And the sort of quoted figure for the incidence of juvenile arthritis is about one in 1000 children will develop or have juvenile arthritis. And yeah, there's there's not necessarily a difference in the prevalence, but there are certainly differences in the types of arthritis that are seen in various regions. So for example, in Asia, the form of arthritis that can affect the spine tends to be more common than it is in say, for example, Australia.

Peter 44:17

And I guess research goes on as to why that's the case?

Speaker 5 44:21

There are many people who are researching the origins of juvenile arthritis, and, even better, looking for ways of trying to reduce the impacts of arthritis. And I'm pleased to say that as manpower in Australia has grown, Australia is contributing to that effort.

Speaker 1 44:42

What about the sort of genetic or hereditary factor does that come into play for particular rheumatoid arthritis?

Speaker 5 44:48

Yeah, we don't generally think of juvenile arthritis as being a genetic disease in terms of heritability. So the vast majority of children we see who have juvenile. Arthritis are the only children in the family with juvenile arthritis. Again, I don't want to seem to be obsessed with the form of arthritis that affects the spine, but it is a sort of casing point. The one form of arthritis in which there does seem to be some heritability or genetic link is this form that can affect the spine. That is more common in boys and in those children, there is often a family history of the sorts of diseases that are grouped together within that category of juvenile arthritis. For example, the father may have a similar condition diagnosed in adulthood, or there may be a history of conditions affecting the gut that are commonly seen in association with that... form of arthritis.

Peter 45:43

And I mean, if you live in Darwin, is it kind of better for you than, say, if you live in, you know, live on Antarctica or in Antarctica? Yeah, so... is it... does climate and sunlight have a role in the onset of juvenile... probably a better question here, I should be asking the questions.

Speaker 5 46:04

Yeah, I think it's fair to say that there has been work looking at that, and particularly interest in the role of vitamin D and whether or not that may impact the onset of autoimmune diseases. I think it's fair to say that in a practical sense, there's not much that would suggest that moving from Queensland to Melbourne or vice versa is likely to impact your arthritis. You may be aware certainly older people are very common. It's not uncommon to hear them talk about if cold weather making their joints hurt, or they can tell that there's going to be a change in weather because their joints hurt. It's a phenomenon we don't see much in children. I've not been aware of that at all, so I don't know why it occurs in adults, but it's certainly thought to be real. And the link between environmental temperature and climate and arthritis activity, I think, remains to be completely explored.

Peter 47:01

And what about the treatments? Jonathan, is there much out there? Is that improving? Is it ongoing?

Speaker 5 47:08

Yeah... it's improving. It is, I think it's fair to say so my mentor, who was one of the first pediatric dermatologists in Australia, in Australia, he actually trained both in Canada and England, and even as recently as the 1970s the treatments for children with arthritis were limited enough that effectively, there were entire rehabilitation hospitals built to accommodate children whose arthritis was likely to lead to them having various physical levels of physical disability as adults, all of those hospitals with modern therapy over the last 40 years, all those sort of centers have gone and we continue to benefit from the advances that have been made in arthritis therapy in adults. And so even compared to 18 years ago, when I started, we have so many more drug options for our families. And along with those increased therapy options has been an improvement in outcomes. And so the vast majority of the kids that we have with arthritis coming through our clinics, you would not tell that they had arthritis sitting in the waiting room. The things that used to be common splints, wheelchairs, leg raises, all sorts of things, we almost never see those things.

Peter 48:20

Now, I guess we kind of get back to where we started, in a sense that if intervention can be early, you know, the the drama that families have to go through is kind of minimized as well, which you probably can't put a price on as well that you can imagine as a parent, if you can't quite work out why child isn't as happy or as comfortable as they should be.

Speaker 5 48:39

Yeah, you're absolutely right, and it's not uncommon, particularly for parents who've had a difficult journey to the diagnosis of juvenile arthritis, it's not uncommon for them to be quite emotional when when their concerns are finally validated when they come to pediatric rheumatology. And I guess trying to reduce that trauma by increasing the speed at which the diagnosis is made is the goal of the JAFA early diagnosis program. And they have a they have set themselves a goal, with the backing of the aprg, of trying to reduce the time to diagnosis from 10 months to 10 weeks by 2030.

Peter 49:17

All right, that's five years away. She has a big difference, isn't it? You know, 40 weeks compared to 10, that's a huge difference.

Speaker 5 49:23

Yes, and the change that will make for families and for the children will be almost beyond belief.

Speaker 1 49:31

Jonathan, that's been absolutely fascinating. Thank you. I hope we can speak to you again in the future. Now, if people want to find out more, the JAFA that you referred to there, they've got a website that people get information from.

Speaker 5 49:41

Yes, they do. If you put Jaffa into whichever search engine you favor, you'll find their website which has lots of useful information and lots of news items. The Australian rheumatology Association and arthritis Australia also have information and the Children's Hospital in Melbourne, if you Google the rch, we have. For a lot of information there, for for parents whose children may have juvenile arthritis, or for parents who are interested in finding out more information.

Peter 50:07

Jonathan, keep up the great work.

Jonathan 50:08

Thank you so much for the invitation. Peter, it's been a pleasure.

Peter 50:11

Dr Jonathan from... rheumatologist from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. Also, a specialist in the era of Rheumatology. That was fascinating.

Vision Australia ID 50:21

Keep in touch with Vision Australia radio in Adelaide at 1197 AM.

Peter 50:26

A really good story coming out of Victoria from Yarra Valley Water, as far as procurement goes, particularly for digital meters. Let's talk about it with Raghu Bharadwaj. Raghu, thanks for your time.

Raghu 50:27

Thank you, Peter.

Peter 50:28

Tell us just about this. This is a great thing. Yarra Valley Water is a big corporation in Victoria, and you're involving people with disabilities and get your digital media roll out.

Raghu 50:51

Yeah, Peter, look, at Yarra Valley Water. You know, we want to use our purchasing power to drive broader positive outcomes, and we've developed a social procurement framework that guides our spending decisions and helps us to identify broader opportunities. And social procurement is when an organisation uses its buying power to generate social value. And social value is above and beyond the value of the goods or services they buy, and it's about achieving a broader social and sustainable outcome.

Peter 51:28

So how is this working, or how is this come about?

Raghu 51:32

As part of our procurement process, we have a social procurement requirement and with our digital media contract. You know, when we engage sagicom, who is a international organisation, they investigated the feasibility of working with a social enterprise, and sagicom have subcontracted to Nadrasca to host its logistics and testing centre in the Melbourne east.

Peter 52:01

So there's been a purpose built, or building, if I can put it that way, is there?

Raghu 52:05

Yeah, absolutely. So what we've effectively got is the Nadrasca facility will deliver the logistics, shipping and storage of meters, but also we'll be using the facility in terms of preparation of meters, unpacking, packing as well as, you know, it's a secure location to store our meters.

Peter 52:27

So these meters, they're kind of part of the future, if I can put it that way, they're part of a rollout... that's taking place in sort of time to come.

Raghu 52:35

Absolutely, Peter - digital water meters, you know, they save water and money for our consumers. You know, digital water meters will provide water users with more reliable and more up to date information about their water consumption compared to the traditional mechanical metals that that we've had, and the technology enables customers to understand and manage their water usage and in the end, save water, which is a very precious commodity for us. I was

Peter 53:01

I was going to say, particularly in a place like Australia. I know we often joke about how often it rains in Victoria, but in a place like Australia, where droughts can be kind of ever present or always a bit of a real and present danger, to save water is a very powerful thing.

Raghu 53:17

Absolutely Peter, that's... exactly what we're trying to do here is, you know, we acknowledge that water is a precious commodity, and so we need to make every drop count, but also equally. You know, if we're finding that there are more consumers who are not only environmentally but economically, you know, considerate of these sort of things, and if we can provide that data to them, then we're empowering them to make their decisions at the end of the day.

Peter 53:44

I know you're with the Yarra Valley Water, but tell us a bit about Nadrasca. What... do they do and kind of, what's... their role in this? You kind of touched on a bit already.

Raghu 53:52

So Nadrasca has a 4000 square metre warehouse in the eastern suburbs in Mitcham, where there's about 140 people with disability that are employed to deliver services such as warehousing, logistics, labeling, print service, as well as corporate gifting to a wide range of commercial customers. The purpose built facility is secure that enables, you know, highly accurate and calibrated well services to be provided anyway, and that's how we're using them through sagitcom to help us drive some of those services for us.

Peter 54:31

And how far is this down the track? Is it actually up and running? Because it started...

Raghu 54:32

Yeah, absolutely. So since the end of last year, Sagicom have been working with Nadrasca to set up not only the testing facility, but also the processes for the storage of these meters. So there is a purpose-built, a facility there. And we actually went to the facility last month, and it is fully functional. And... with testing being done at the facility, but also the packaging and the repackaging of those meters to help us roll out the digital meters into our service area.

Speaker 1 55:10

As I imagine... you're from the Yarra Valley Water, but I guess in terms of kind of the... atmosphere, the vibe around a place like Nadrasca to kind of get this opportunity, we often talk about the fact that, you know, people with disabilities just give me a chance to work. I proved to you that I can do it. This is kind of a case in point, if they get an opportunity from a big corporate like Yarra Valley Water, they're going to, you know, grab it with both hands and do the job pretty well, I'm going to... guarantee you.

Raghu 55:39

Absolutely, Peter. I mean, one of the points I wanted to make was there are some organisations that talk about social procurement, but they do it as a bit of a tick and flick type of a process, whereas I'd say I've seen it firsthand, and I'm working through it firsthand at Yarra Valley Water, where we don't just have a policy, we're actually following through. And this is a great example of where, you know, it's a win-win, win for not only Yarra Valley Water, Sagemcom as well as Nadrasca, to really make a difference when it comes to social procurement.

Peter 56:15

What about in terms of, I guess, the sustainability or the longevity of something like this? Is it going to come a time when all the digital meters have been rolled out?

Raghu 56:24

Well, I mean, we're just talking about Yarra Valley Water here at the end of the day, Peter, but you know, I know that there are other water authorities who are looking at digital meters, and you know, if Sagemcom commerce is successful in winning those it's much broader than just Yarra Valley Water. And so this facility will be used for the majority of those facilities. So this is much broader than just Yarra Valley Water, I would say.

Peter 56:53

Well, I was going to make that point that I guess, you know, the corporate world is pretty competitive, but if you can kind of show that you're doing the right thing, you know, both sort of bottom line point of view, but also from a social conscious point of view, social impact point of view, yeah, that kind of has got to be in your plus column as well.

Raghu 57:11

Absolutely, you know, I actually put a social media post around it where I said that social procurement is about enhancing inclusion by giving vulnerable groups access to the broader economy, increasing the supply diversity by engaging social benefit suppliers and creating a positive social impact. You know, this is much broader than just a transactional thing. This is about giving back to society and to the community at the end of the day.

Peter 57:36

And great, 140 employees, but I guess, well, I guess, of course, they've got family and friends, and, you know, often sort of say, well, yeah, when you meet someone, the first thing you say is what you do for a job. And of course, if you're not working, the conversation kind of has got nowhere to go. So this kind of impact that it can have on the families as well can be a very powerful thing.

Raghu 57:57

Absolutely. I mean, as I said earlier, when I went to the facility, just the vibe that you got within the facility, the excitement within not only just, you know, the vibe that you were getting, but the smiles that you saw in the faces, you know, you could see that this is going to make a real difference to them and to, you know, contributing to the good and you know, feeling like you're contributing, basically. So, yeah, I mean, this is, as I said earlier, a win, win-win for all of us, and it's hopefully going to have a very long term positive impact to not only the organisations, but very importantly, the people that are involved in this.

Peter 58:37

Well, I guess, just like an individual, it's the sort of thing they can quote, unquote, put on their CV. So the next corporate that comes along and sees that they've done this and done it, well, well, let's employ them to do this next thing as well, like it's kind of the first step of hopefully many.

Raghu 58:54

Well, absolutely. And hopefully it is quite pioneering in that regard, yeah. And I sincerely hope that other organisations look at these type of opportunities and take it forward even further.

Peter 59:07

I guess, from Yarra Valley's point of view... you know, if an opportunity comes out, to partner up with it, with another organisation, again, if you've had a good experience, there'll be no hesitation to do so.

Raghu 59:20

Once you're drank out of the Kool Aid Peter, you want, you want some more of that? So absolutely, I 100% agree with that sentiment.

Peter 59:28

Well, I think it's a win-win-win. So certainly for Yarra Valley Water and also Nadrasca, I'm going to say Nadrasca, the dress guy, and also Sagemcom. You know, it's a three way winning monster, if I can put it that way.

Raghu 59:40

Absolutely. I mean, as I said earlier, you know, Sagemcom is a global organisation out of France, and, yeah, you know, it's the first time they've done anything like this here in Australia. And I know, having met the head of their organisation in terms of the utility team, they were mighty impressed with. Not only the facility, but yeah, just again, you know, seeing this whole social procurement through and physically, you can see this facility, and as I said earlier, just the smiles and how they all, we all want to make a difference at the end of the day.

Peter 1:00:17

Raghu, congratulations, you and all those involved. Congratulations to the three organisations. May there be many more.

Raghu 1:00:23

Peter, thank you very much, and you have a great day. That's

Peter 1:00:26

That's Raghu Bharadway there from Yarra Valley Water - with a great story there about procurement and making a real good social impact.

Alison 1:00:36

Hi everyone. I'm Alison Davies. I'm a registered music therapist specialising and using music to support our brain to function at its best. You're listening to Leisure Link with Peter Greco on the Vision Australia Radio network.

Peter 1:00:56

We're fully great chatting to people who are very passionate about things they believe in. Jason Bryce is certainly such a person from cash. Welcome, Jason. Always good to catch up. Thanks for your time.

Jason 1:01:06

Good night, Peter. How are you going?

Peter 1:01:07

Well, now we've been chatting to you for a little while. You're very passionate about keeping cash in the system, and you've hinted at the fact that there's going to be a bit of political stuff happening. Just about a meeting that Michelle Bullock, the Governor of the Reserve Bank had with some politicians very recently.

Jason 1:01:23

Well, Michelle Bullock appeared before the House of Reps economics committee two weeks ago and made some statements that are great concern to a lot of people, seeming to indicate that there's a timeline on the availability of cash and that there will be no cash in Australia and about 10 years, said Michelle Bullock. So yeah, this is a bit of an issue that our regulators aren't planning for the long term in terms of keeping cash around and keeping it available and accessible and accepted. I wrote to Michelle Bullock on behalf of the couple of 100,000 people who have signed my petition, and I just said, look, there's no evidence that we can go cashless. There's a lot of complaining from the big banks about the cost of cash, but they are private companies. The RBA issues our bank notes. It's a public economic piece of infrastructure and our Cash System essential to so many people, and especially in times of outages or crisis when we need a bit of privacy for whatever reason, we need cash to stay around. And it's very disturbing to see the Governor of the Reserve Bank, thinking that cash is going to disappear in 10 years. That's 2035, it's not really, not very long away. And I was a bit shocked, and I asked the question of the Governor of the Reserve Bank, come on it. Banks have shareholders. They're private companies. They can complain about the cost of cash, but you the Governor of the Reserve Bank. Really? You sign the bank notes. We'd like to see you hear you talk about the benefits of bank notes, the benefits of physical cash. To so many people, best way of budgeting so many businesses, 94% still accept cash. So small business voting with the way they manage their own affairs and still accepting cash. It's really only the big banks and the big retailers who are discouraging the use of cash because of what they say is the cost to them, but that's not a cost to the taxpayers or the consumer. So the governor of the RBA could be, and I suggested it standing up for and talking about the benefits of cash to so many people, and why we need it to stay around for a liability, for privacy and yes, for being inclusive of everybody. The idea that we're not going to have cash within 10 years, that's shocking to a lot of people, and maybe not shocking to people who are in the FinTech industry all their life, but to the rest of us who live in the community, the idea of a world without cash is a very different proposition, and it's been talked about for a long time. I don't actually believe that it can happen, and I think it's irresponsible to talk about it, the possibility of it happening, because that means we're not planning, probably for how we're going to pay for it, who's going to pay for it, and meanwhile, the banks just keep retreating from this space. And last week, it turns out ANZ, most city bank branches owned by ANZ in Victoria, and it's going the same way all around Australia no longer accept cash over the counter from personal customers. This is a bank that's made a clear policy decision not to accept physical money.

Peter 1:05:06

If we want to put money in our hands that bank account. How do we do it?

Jason 1:05:09

You get directed to an ATM... like, Are you kidding? And for personal customers, the number of bank branches where you can talk to a teller and hand over your money across the counter is now fewer than the number of city based bank branches where you can't so most ANZ Bank branches, city based in Victoria, are now cashless. Almost half of bank branches owned by ANZ Australia wide are cashless to the point now where it's got to the stage where you've got to ask, what is it to be a bank? Yes, a bank lends money, and yes, a bank collects savings, but a bank is supposed to deal with cash, and they have an agreement with the RBA to provide cash distribution services all around Australia. And you've got to ask the question, if they're not prepared to do that, and not prepared to regard it as an essential cost of doing business, like the butcher regards the meat that he puts in the sausages as an essential cost of doing business, the bank's got to regard the money that they distribute around the nation, the physical cash as an essential cost of doing business without cash, you know, and let's face it, Peter, most of us have most of our money in the bank, right? We might only have 50 100 whatever money in our pocket or our purse or our drawer at home, mostly, we keep most of our money in the bank, but we do it voluntarily. In a cashless Australia, what they're talking about is you don't have that option. You must have your money in a bank. That means you can't hold it in your hand at any stage.

Peter 1:07:02

Jason, did you get a response from Michelle Bullock?

Jason 1:07:04

I haven't, and I'm hoping that Michelle Bullock will make a statement soon about their attitude towards cash, because there's a lot of talks going on at the moment that it really going to set the stage for how we pay for things going forward, what the decisions that are made this year very important for us and our children going forward. And it's very, very important, you know, the government committed to a cash mandate by the first of January, and that's...

Peter 1:07:35

Just gonna ask you about that. That's kind of contrary to what we've been hearing from you in the last few chats that we've had.

Jason 1:07:41

And I said to Michelle Bullock, the government has committed to this cash mandate. Are you just making plans for this to be around for the next 10 years? Because that is not long term good policy making. So I don't know, Peter, we just keep battling on trying to make our voice heard, because I really don't think it can happen. And if they think that it can, they're going to make the wrong decisions and the wrong plans for the future.

Peter 1:08:09

Jason, it's interesting because every every time I speak to you, I'm referring to the fact that recently there was a blackout, and here in South Australia, on the York Peninsula, 30,000 consumers, as in, individual consumers or individual accounts, were without power for a number of hours. And of course, that's 30,000 people who would have families. That's 30,000 people who would have businesses, etc. So the impact upon maybe hundreds of 1000s when that power was out meant that they couldn't do any online transactions, so if they wanted to, they'd need to use cash.

Speaker 6 1:08:45

You have to think that Mother Nature is going to bring more outage to us. Certainly we have to plan for that to happen. So reliability and it's not just mother nature that's a problem and power and internet outages. It's also bad actors online that we are in a financial crime wave, and it's online, there's not much crime happening. You don't hear about people getting mugged at knife point in the street so much, but you hear every single day but somebody getting scammed, somebody getting money taken out of their account, somebody's ID has been stolen and used for some trick online. So, yeah, there's a crime wave in Australia, and it's online, and it looks like it's going to be the legit, ordinary Aussie who's going to be left with money in their hands saying, Hang on, how do I spend this dressing?

Peter 1:09:48

We've got the budget coming up on Tuesday night. Do you expect anything from there? As far as Jim Chalmers and the treasurer go?

Jason 1:09:55

Well, I'd like to hear Jim Chalmers just reiterate that this law is on track to be in place by the end of the year, the first of January, but I'm conscious that there's an election coming up. So I've heard one public statement from Peter Dutton saying vaguely that he's committed to cash staying around, but nothing specific during this election campaign, assuming that we're about to enter one. You know, I encourage everybody to ask your local candidate to ask there's a few politicians who are really strong on this issue, and there's generally among the reps that we send to Canberra, not a great deal of opinion either way. I think it was Gareth Hamilton from Queensland last week, who asked Michelle Bullock, oh yes, some really insightful questions, has to say. And he said, I'm very surprised about the 10 year time frame you're putting on this that doesn't seem very long. There's some other representatives who are talking about bank branches in regional areas, and it hopefully there's going to be some news about that in the next couple of weeks. There's obviously a moratorium for the next couple of years, but banks are trying to find ways around that, trying to find, for example, in New South Wales, a bank branch in the Blue Mountains, which is basically not in Sydney, it's outside Sydney, and a mountainous area was classified by the abs as adjacent to metropolitan area. It's everybody there thinks they live in in the country. But ANZ said, No, we found a loophole, and we're closing that branch. There's a few places towns around Australia who are facing that Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and Geelong areas in Victoria, like that, that are adjacent to the Metropolitan the outer suburbs of Adelaide, adjacent to the metropolitan area. They might be classified as metropolitan by the Australian Bureau statistics, but everybody in that place thinks I live in a country town, and it's a long way to the next bank branch. Some of the banks are using these loopholes to keep closing branches and keep restricting access to cash.

Peter 1:12:22

Jason, we'll have to leave it there. We love your passion. We'll keep in touch. And if people want to find out more, then go to your website. We'll put that up with our show notes as well. Thank you, Peter. Cheers, mate. Jason Bryce there from Cash Welcome, certainly passionate and certainly makes a very good argument. On the VisionAustralia network for your favorite podcast service on 1197 AM in Adelaide, you're listening to Leisure Link. Well, if you're listening through 1197 AM in Adelaide, in a little while, it'll be Earth Hour. If you're listening elsewhere, other times may have already experienced this. Let's chat a bit about it with Rachel Lance, who heads up support and mobilisation at WWF. Rachel, loveto meet you, and thank you for your time.

Rachel 1:13:04

Thank you so much for having me

Peter 1:13:06

Now you're doing something just a little bit different, or, I guess, kind of raising awareness in a different way about Earth Hour and the importance of the outdoors.

Rachel 1:13:14

Yes, we are. So throughout March, from the first of March up until today, the 22nd, we've been running a bit of a campaign called challenge 60, which is encouraging people to get out into the great outdoors and spend 60 minutes a day doing some form of physical activity in nature. It's been a wonderful part of Earth Hour this year. And so we're really asking people to get involved and to be out in nature, and really then looking to fundraise from their local communities to help make that impact go even further.

Peter 1:13:50

So good for you and good for the planet.

Rachel 1:13:52

Absolutely, that's the aim.

Peter 1:13:53

So why is this important? Or how can this kind of help the planet? Obviously, for your own sort of health, we kind of know to get out and about, fresh air, vitamin D, all that sort of stuff is good, but how is that kind of impacting on the planet or helping the planet?

Rachel 1:13:54

Yeah, so as you said, it's so important for people to have that connection to nature, and we know that spending time outdoors can improve our both our mental and our physical health, but we do know that as well, that the funds that people are raising through this challenge by getting outdoors into nature every day and by asking their local communities to support them and sponsor them on their challenge, those funds are raising critical money to help support conservation projects that protect our wildlife and our planet now.

Peter 1:14:42

This is great, and obviously, if you're in a position to be able to do it, it's fantastic, but you've got some research showing that not everyone is in that position, or perhaps work is kind of holding us back from doing this.

Rachel 1:14:53

Yeah. So we've released some research that found that almost 40% of Aussies are spending less than one hour outside each day. The majority of people who aren't getting outdoors enough is because of work. Work is that big barrier to people. With people saying that their jobs is what keeps them inside, and even a third of people saying they have their lunch at their desk, they're not getting that mental break in the day. But that's one of the reasons that we launched this campaign is to kind of try and break that cycle and give people a reason and an excuse to get out into nature and really making sure that they carve out that 60 minutes a day, even if it is just for this month of March, to really motivate them and push them towards it. That's it's called a challenge. It is actually a challenge.

Peter 1:15:42

So fair enough. Yeah. And of course, the earth hour - a day, if you like, is a good time to do it. March is a good time because, in terms of the weather, I'm in Adelaide, I don't know in other states, it's been very, very hot in Adelaide, but generally, the weather is quite conducive to getting out and about. And certainly, like after after work, you can in terms of the way the weather isn't and even lunch hour. So March is a good month maybe start, start the habit.

Rachel 1:16:07

Yeah, absolutely. That's one of the things we were hoping is that, you know, everyone has those New Year's resolutions, and they don't always go to plan, but it's not too late, you know, when we get to march to try and get back on track, and it's a good time of year to kind of start making those good habits that we hope people will continue on well beyond the challenge and Beyond Earth Hour itself as well.

Peter 1:16:30

I guess you can kind of incorporate it with other members of your family, or you talked about having lunch at your desk, or obviously maybe other colleagues at work, colleagues at work, to maybe get out at lunchtime rather than sit at your desk or stay indoors.

Rachel 1:16:45

Yeah, absolutely. We've seen lots of teams join as part of challenge 60 so whether that be friendship groups as teams or families or a lot of workplace teams as well, and it's a great way to kind of keep each other accountable. Not only do you have that fundraising target that you're you feel a little bit accountable to the people perhaps that have sponsored you and helped you, motivate you along, but also having that accountability of a pal at work to be able to say, yeah, actually, we should get outdoors and and go for that walk is really great motivation.

Peter 1:17:19

When you talked about, as you said, not just the physical benefits, but the psychological or health benefits. So just to get out in the fresh air or a bit of feeling a bit of sun on your skin...

Speaker 7 1:17:29

Oh, absolutely, it makes such a difference. You know, we know there's the scientific evidence out there about how spending time outdoors, and particularly exercising in nature, can really help improve both our mental and our physical health and reduce feelings of stress. It really helps us also connect in with nature and appreciate our natural environment. If you're out there walking in your local park or down at your local beach, perhaps it's just that really nice connection to nature and perhaps appreciation of the beautiful country that we're lucky enough to live in.

Peter 1:18:02

We talked about the health benefits. There's a lot of clinical or scientific evidence to talk about the benefits, particularly near water and the negative ions. And indeed, if you're walking amongst trees and nature, the you know, the better quality of air that you get as well. So you know, this isn't just sort of mumbo jumbo, or hippies from the 60s rates that are preaching this sort of stuff. There's a lot of evidence today to kind of back all this sort of thing up.

Rachel 1:18:30

Yeah, there certainly is. And that's one of the reasons that we launched Challenge 60, is that we know that there are all of these benefits there. And then we also know from the research that we've done that people just aren't getting enough getting outdoors enough. So it's kind of the perfect marrying of these things to say, Well, why don't we try and encourage people to be living a better life and feeling better in themselves, but also getting out into nature and hopefully having a positive impact on nature as well, by through their fundraising and, you know, driving funds for that critical conservation projects, right?

Peter 1:19:02

I know reading a little bit about you, you've done a bit of work in the UK as well as in Australia. What about in Australia, when, as I touched on, the kind of climate is probably much more conducive, you know, those that maybe follow cricket or or sport. In England, it seems to always be raining or about to rain. We're pretty lucky in Australia. What about in the UK? Are they kind of as aware of the benefits of getting into getting out into the outdoors?

Speaker 7 1:19:26

Look, they're definitely aware of it. And I think one of the best things I recall from living over in the UK is they really make the most of the good weather, because it is so so few and far between those beautiful sunshine days, is that when the sun is shining, or even when it you know, the temperature tips just over 20 degrees. Everyone's out on the parks in their bikinis, and, you know, out in the beer gardens at pubs, it does have that really lovely brick community vibe when it comes to nature. And so while they might not get nearly as many sunny days as I, yes, I do think that they really make the most of them. And that was something that I really tried to hold true just for myself when I came back to Australia, was to think about, how can I try and bring that energy with me and really try and appreciate the beautiful climate that we're in and make the most of those spectacular days?

Peter 1:20:20

It's a pretty good point, is that sometimes we take things just a little bit for granted. We know, if it's raining today, chance that'll be a nice day tomorrow, so we might sort of hold off. So maybe it's the sort of thing that we could be a bit more aware of, or acknowledge, even just to ourselves, that we do have some wonderful climate to be able to share with our our neighbors, our friends, and just ourselves and our health?

Rachel 1:20:43

Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, we are lucky to live in such a beautiful country and be part of a really beautiful world, but that's also why I work in conservation. You know, there's such a beautiful place that we want to protect it, and so that's kind of what is a also a really wonderful drive and motivation for this campaign is because people are really driven to to want to protect the world against things like climate change and the nature loss that we're seeing. So it really is a, you know, a kind of a win-win, to be doing this.

Peter 1:21:17

Without wishing to get too political... what about, you know, WWF, and your role as supporter mobilisation - are people as keen as ever, or as many people keen as ever, more people keen as ever to kind of get involved. I mean, there is an emergency going on at the moment. We should be more aware. We all want to try and contribute to combating that. If I can put it that way.

Speaker 7 1:21:37

Yeah, I think it's a really important time for nature. I think, you know, we've all lived through quite a few, you know, natural disasters and recent emergencies and challenges, particularly over the last few years. And so I think it is on people's minds, and it is present. And more and more people are kind of understanding the links between the way that we live and the impact that that can have on the climate and on nature. We launched challenge 60 last year. We've had even more people sign up this year, so we are seeing, I guess, that that continued theme and people wanting to get involved and to do something. And so whether it's challenge 60 or perhaps even one of our other campaigns or initiatives or activities that that we do at WWF, we are seeing a lot of wonderful support from the community, and I think Australians in particular, are very passionate about the country, and you know, want to make sure that we leave it in a really good place For the people that come after us and nature, for nature's sake as well.

Peter 1:22:44

I thought of that the other day. I can't remember exactly, but I think we are the 50th most populated nation. I think we're the fourth as far as takeup of solar panels go. So that kind of, it's a pretty powerful message. You know, in the top 50, as far as population goes, but in the top four as far as, I guess, trying to do something about the climate. That's kind of a message that we're sending, isn't it?

Speaker 7 1:23:08

Yeah, and I think it's a really important message, like you said before, we're so lucky to have these, you know, beautiful, sunny climate. It's the perfect opportunity to be using things like our natural resources, like renewables. So I'm really pleased to see that more and more people are trying to embrace this, even at a personal level. So we really want to make sure that, you know, our governments step up and help lead the charge on that from a global perspective as well.

Peter 1:23:34

Yeah, that's very true. You know that they can certainly do a lot as far as putting things in place to encourage people to do the right thing. So Earth Hour in a little while, very important. And your message about the Challenge 60, you know, tomorrow, Earth Hour's behind us, but it's still, the message is still very relevant.

Speaker 7 1:23:53

Absolutely. We'd love for people to continue. You know, you could set your own challenge. You don't have to do it necessarily as part of ours. We'd love for people to just continue to be engaged in nature and get out into nature. But of course, as you said, Earth Hour, it's happening tonight. It's not too late to get involved in that. We still have millions of people around the world and lots of landmarks that will be switching off their lights Tonight at 8:30pm wherever they are in the world. And so we really would love for as many people as possible to get involved and take that approach as well. You know, it is only an hour, but to switch off your lights and even maybe use that time to get out into nature, have a candlelight dinner in the garden, or walk around the park or do something nice. We'd love for as many people as possible to get behind Earth Hour tonight.

Peter 1:24:43

And people get more information from your website. Yes,

Rachel 1:24:45

Yes, absolutely - you can take part and find out more at earthhour.org.au ...

Peter 1:24:51

Rachel, glad to talk to you. Keep up the great work. Thanks for speaking to us.

Rachel 1:24:54

Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure to chat.

Peter 1:24:56

So Rachel Lance there, who is from WWF, in fact. Support and mobilisation, heads up that particular area. So wwf.org.au - as well. All those details are up with our show notes. Spoke to Neville Horton during the week. Our finance guru, Neville is in very good form. Basically didn't have enough time to specialist for his regular second all being well, Neville will be back with us in April, but certainly Neville doing very, very well. Federal Budget Tuesday night. We'll chat about it with Phil Van De Pere on focal point on Wednesday night, then the budget reply speech on Thursday. That will be very interesting. Will the Liberals announce some policies? We'll find out Thursday night, and of course, we'll do a lot more unpacking of those issues in the next few days and weeks as information rolls out. Couple of quotes before we go. Devin has sent a quote through from Ray Dalio, who is one of the finest hedge fund investors in the world. Little bit or unusual quote from someone who's investing in money all the time. He says, whatever success I have had in my life has been due mainly to my meditation. So thanks to Ray Dalio for his quote, and also big thanks to Devon for sending that through, and Laz has sent, or Lars has sent his quote through. Lars says the mind should not be viewed as a vessel that needs filling, but more as a fire that needs fueling. Very good. Lars, I appreciate that. Thank you so much for sending that through some birthdays before we go, Stephen noon, having your birthday, that wonderful theater performer in Adelaide did some great work last year as far as the fringe and also the South Australian school for vision impaired goes. Lurchington, the audio description, so, happy birthday to you. Stephen Lizzie Eastham, having a birthday from Studio One. Happy birthday to you. Lizzie Cath Ember, your fine advocate always having a birthday. And Todd Hodge is having a birthday, one of our finest Paralympians, Todd a very big Happy birthday to you. That is it for the program. Of course, coming up very shortly is World Earth Hour. And along those same lines, Vicky cousins is here very shortly with Australian geographic, so stay tuned to that. Yep, double thumbs up. From Vicky, so stay tuned for that. Sam Ricard, thanks much for your help. Pam green, thanks so much for yours. Reminding you that leg is available on that favorite podcast platform of yours. If you like the program, shout it from the rooftops. Always room for many more. Listeners, be kind. Yourselves, be thoughtful, and look out for others. All being well, leisure link back at the same time next Week on Vision Australia radio. This is Leisure Link.

(music) 1:28:35

(Music out)

Lachlan 1:28:35

Thanks for listening to this Vision Australia radio podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform. Visit VA radio.org for more.

Vision Australia ID 1:28:46

Vision Australia, radio, blindness, low vision, opportunity.