ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a historical perspective on general disability and access issues in Australia, noting that captioning for D/deaf has been legislated through the Broadcast Services Act of 1992 but there is no similar legislation requiring the provision of audio description (AD) for broadcast content in Australia. AD trials were conducted on television in 2012, 2016 and 2020. The Performing Arts has been the locus of most AD activity in Australia to date. As a relative newcomer to the world of professional AD, Australia has had the distinct advantage of being able to consider best practice from around the world, and to adopt and adapt various elements of what others are doing to best suit the specific Australian culture and context. AD in Australia has generally followed the UK and US approaches. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research, including an evaluation of the quality of AD services, understanding audience experience of AD, and how to drive awareness and uptake of AD in the future. Recommendations include the involvement of the blind/vision-impaired community in the development of all aspects of AD, including the creation of industry standards, support for high quality training and university level education, and the use of AD as a pedagogical tool for mainstream education.
