Why this suburb is a haven for the blind

Why has Annerley on Brisbane’s southside become home to many of the city’s blind and low-vision people? The answer is steeped in history.

General manager of Braille House in Annerley, Sally Balwin. Picture: AAP/Richard Walker

If you’ve ever been stuck in traffic near the corner of Venner and Ipswich roads in Annerley — and chanced to look around while waiting to move — you might have caught a little glimpse into a fascinating, hidden world.

“Blind Persons Cross Here’’, one sign reads.

On the opposite side of Ipswich Rd, there are special tiles on the footpath to guide people who use canes to get around.

And inside an unremarkable looking old house at 507 Ipswich Rd is one of Brisbane’s most fascinating not-for-profits, Braille House.

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It was founded in 1952 by the remarkable Brisbane inventor R.F. Tunley whose best known creation — a large braille globe of the world — is still on display at the State Library.

A cluster of services for the blind or those with low-vision have since sprung up in Annerley, including Link Vision and the Queensland Blind Association, while shoppers at nearby Fairfield Gardens are well used to low-vision people negotiating the centre and Fairfield train station.

Binding books at Braille House in 1954, the year it moved to Annerley.

But despite boasting one of the country’s biggest and most innovative range of braille libraries, the stately Braille House is remarkably quiet.

“Not many people come in here, which is partly because of a wonderful arrangement we have with Australia Post,’’ general manager Sally Balwin said.

“Clients go online, search our books and ring or email us to order. Australia Post drops books off or picks up.’’

Braille House has one of the biggest braille libraries in Australia and has plans to catch up fast to the leader, actively reaching out to publishers so electronic manuscripts can be converted to e-braille quickly.

Lady Lamington, wife of the then Queensland Governor, was an early patron of the Queensland Braille Writing Association.

It already has Boy Swallows Universe, the popular new release from The Courier-Mail’s Trent Dalton, and Magda Szubanski’s memoir in its collection.

E-braille has slashed the cost of producing braille books, which are so bulky each of the Harry Potter titles runs to more than a dozen volumes.

The advent of the NDIS and competition among the country’s proliferating not-for-profits has forced Braille House to become much more creative to meet its annual budget target of $750,000.

The local Men’s Shed adapted their new embossing machines, they offer brailled concierge information for hotels, brailled menus for restaurants, charge annual borrowing fees for companies and write accessibility policies for government and business.

“We’re up for the challenge,’’ Ms Balwin said.