We champion the rights for all Australians to access published material

As community broadcasters, Radio Reading Network members are licensed by the Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) to serve a specific ‘community interest’: Australians with a print disability.

5 million Australians, or 22% of the total population live with a print disability.

A print disability means that a person is affected by a condition which limits their ability to access print or published material

Major causes include:
Learning Disability – including dyslexia or attention impairment,
Physical impairment – such as arthritis, spinal disability, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy. Literacy impairment – including the ability to speak but not read English.
Vision impairment – conditions of the eye which include cataract, age related macular degeneration, and uncorrected refractive error.

There is also an increase in the number of people living with conditions which are defined as ‘profoundly core activity limiting’ and people living longer with life-threatening conditions. A consequence of this is a growing population who cannot access print or published material.

Radio Reading enables all Australians to participate in the community’s cultural, political and social life, irrespective of their ability to read printed material. 

Other important listener groups

Cochlear implant recipients also benefit from Radio Reading programs. They learn to relate spoken sounds with the words they represent by reading along as they listen to Radio Reading broadcasts of the daily newspaper.

Students of English as a second language find Radio Reading broadcasts helpful for a similar reason. By reading the newspaper as they tune in to Radio Reading’s alternate-format programming, they match the sounds with the written words and learn spelling, pronunciation and spoken emphasis.