A United Nations committee has found Australia breached an international human rights treaty by failing to provide audio descriptions on free-to-air television for the blind and vision impaired community.
The finding from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities comes after a long-standing human rights complaint from 36-year-old Melbourne disability advocate Lauren Henley.
Ms Henley lost her sight in a car accident when she was 20.
She wants audio descriptions, which are narrated sentences describing TV and screen content, to be mandated on free-to-air television in Australia, like they are in the New Zealand and Canada.
"[Television] is a service that really provides us with access to a very important aspect of cultural and social life," she said.
"It's something that you take for granted until it's taken away from you."
The Australian government has previously run government trials of audio described content on its public broadcasters, but there are no laws requiring all free-to-air and commercial broadcasters to create audio described content.
Since 2020, the federal government has funded 14 hours a week of audio described content on SBS and the ABC.
"The very first thing I watched with the first trial of audio description that happened in Australia was a David Attenborough documentary," Ms Henley said.
"And it was an amazing experience. Having visual memory, I could picture everything as they were describing everything, and that is so powerful."
Blind Citizens Australia is a group that has been campaigning for better audio descriptions for about 25 years.
President Fiona Woods said audio descriptions were also incredibly helpful for people who had never had vision, just to understand what is going on, as well as others.
"I know people with autism, find it helpful for labelling emotions," she said.
"Even just people listening while they're cooking the dinner while their kids are watching can know what's happening," she said.
Australian blind community deprived of local content
Adding to the frustration is that audio descriptions may be available for content created in Australia when it is exported overseas, but not for Australian audiences, as there are no requirements to do so.
"We export that content with audio description so that international audiences have access to it," Ms Henley said.
"But that audio description has never been available for people who are blind or visually impaired in Australia.
"It's appalling out of all of the OECD countries, Australia is the only one that doesn't have audio description on television."
Ms Henley took her human rights complaint to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Person with Disabilities after her initial complaint, launched in 2015, was rejected by the Australian Human Rights Commission.
She argued that the failure of Australia to provide adequate audio description amounts to discrimination and a breach of Australia's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Last week, the UN committee upheld her complaint.
Complaint process took seven years
The UN has recommended that Australia take "the necessary legislative and policy measures … to ensure the provision of audio description services".
Ms Henley said she was overjoyed the complaint had been upheld and hoped it would lead to actual change to improve television access for the blind and vision impaired community.
"Yes, this is discrimination," she said.
"Yes, this is a human rights issue. Yes, you are required to provide audio description for people who are blind or visually impaired."
Former chair of UN committee on rights of persons with disability, Professor Ron McCallum, said the persistence of the complainant should be recognised.
"It takes a great deal of courage and tenacity to stand the course of six or seven years," he said.
"It is a very significant decision. It's one of the first relating to the right for people with disabilities to communicate, and to receive communications in all formats."
He said he was optimistic that the government will make changes to ensure it is no longer discriminating against the blind community by not providing this service.
"I expect that here we will get a response from the Australian government that they will actually make plans for audio description on free to air television," he said.
Free TV Australia, the peak industry body for Australia's commercial free-to-air broadcasters, did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, federal communications minister Michelle Rowland said she understands the importance of audio descriptions for people who are blind or have impaired vision.
She said the government is considering the decision and will "provide a response in due course".
They have six months to respond to the UN.
