Print Radio Tasmania running on fumes after abrupt state government funding cut

A service that reads newspapers over the airwaves for vision-impaired Tasmanians has had its funding cut by the state government, prompting it to seek a lifeline. THEIR PLEA >>

The man behind a vital service that reads newspapers over the radio for the vision-impaired is imploring the Tasmanian government to restore funding to the organisation after it was abruptly cut off two years ago.

Print Radio Tasmania has been operating in the state since 1982. Its dedicated volunteers read the state’s three daily newspapers over the airwaves from Monday to Friday. They also deliver book and magazine readings.

Nigel Green, Print Radio’s broadcast manager, said the organisation had been receiving about $80,000 per year from the state government before the funding was stopped.

“It wasn’t something to sneeze at, and it helped out with transmission and salary costs,” he said.

Mr Green joined Print Radio in 2014 as a volunteer before eventually taking on a senior role there. He is one of two part-time employees working for Print Radio.

Nigel Green broadcast manager of Print Radio Tasmania in the Hobart studio. Print Radio Tasmania are trying to survive after significant funding cuts in recent times. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

With close to 50 per cent of Tasmanians being functionally illiterate, and a rapidly ageing population, Mr Green said there was high demand for Print Radio’s services.

“(Our audience) could be as high as 28-30 per cent of the (Tasmanian) population,” he said.

According to Mr Green, the government told Print Radio in late 2018 that the introduction of the NDIS meant that the organisation would “have no trouble seeking support from them”. But that support hasn’t been forthcoming.

Now Print Radio is relying on private sector donations and the occasional bequest to cover its overheads and other costs.

“We’re still in a bit of a quandary as to why we were dropped like a hot potato,” Mr Green said.

Huon Labor MLC Bastian Seidel said Print Radio would cost “next to nothing to keep going”, and noted that the NDIS did not provide funding to organisations that did not offer “1:1 personal support” for people with disabilities.

Bastian Seidel. Picture Eddie Safarik

“We need to go above and beyond to ensure (people) have digestible information that is being read out to them, that is editorialised,” he said. “So why you would not fund them now really doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

A government spokeswoman said the Tasmanian government had provided more than $50,000 in “bridging support” to Print Radio in 2020 and was “committed to continuing to support Tasmanians living with disability so they can access the services and support they need”.

The spokeswoman noted that the federal government had committed to reviewing the funding model for the Information, Linkages and Capacity-building grants program, which provides funding to organisations that deliver projects to benefit people with disabilities.