4. No vision, no vote, no way! In the 1800s voting was only available for people who could write with a pen. This deprived people who were blind or vision impaired of one of the most basic human rights. We were pivotal in achieving the first voting rights for Australians who were blind in 1902 through the Association for the Advancement of the Blind, later named VAF. Initially confined to federal elections, state rights soon followed.

9. Access to books This prevented Australia’s first blind tertiary student, Tilly Aston, from completing her university studies. Frustrated but determined, Tilly established Australia’s first braille library in Melbourne in 1894 through the Victorian Association of Braille Writers (later part of VAF). In 1905, RBS founded a braille library in Sydney. Twenty years later, RVIB opened another library in Melbourne. In 2000 the libraries of RBS and RVIB merged to form our National Information and Library Service (NILS). VAF library joined in 2003. Few braille materials were available in the 1800s.

10. Moving with the times… Initially braille was produced using a hand frame and stylus. Using this method it took half an hour to write one page. In 1981, RBS pioneered the first computer production of braille in Australia. Then in 1990, volunteer Betty Smith worked with RBS to develop the world’s first computerised braille production of text combined with scientific and mathematic symbols. Production speeds increased dramatically with the invention of the first braille printing press by Minnie Crabb, Chief Librarian of the Braille Library (later VAF) in 1934. Braille typewriters, introduced in 1892, were much faster.

11. Introducing talking books The Blind Book Society, later an auxiliary of RBS, opened the first recording studios for Australian literature in 1954. In 1960, RBS and RVIB united to set up studios for copying imported talking books. In 1996, VAF created Australia’s first talking book on CD, Elizabeth Jolley’s ‘The Orchard Thieves’. In future our books will be produced using a digital format that revolutionises indexes and searches. The first talking book machines were imported by RVIB in 1934. In the early days these were very chunky and difficult to transport.

14. Rising to meet the need In 1924 RBS transmitted the first national broadcast of concerts and speeches by people who were blind. Then in 1981, 3RPH became the first radio station in Australia for people unable to read standard print. VAF assumed management of the station in 1983. We have also pioneered the production of talking newspapers, starting at RVIB in 1983. As people’s needs changed with the times, we were ready to respond. Australia’s first low vision clinic was founded in Melbourne in 1972 by VAF. In 1977, RBS established the first low vision clinics in NSW.