13. Economic Costs of Other Service Provision
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13.1 RNZFB Services
The RNZFB is the only major provider of blindness services in New Zealand (RNZFB, 2002). These services are made possible only through the Foundation's government contracts, fundraising efforts and investment. This section provides a brief overview of the costs of services to blind and vision impaired members.
The Foundation in its Annual Report 2002-2003 (RNZFB website) reports the following costs and sources of income:
- Total expenditure on member services $17,551,000
- Net income from Fundraising $10,261,000
- Income from Government Funding $5,121,000
13.1.1 Volunteer Services
The Foundation's delivery of services to members benefits from significant contributions from volunteers, reported by the Foundation to number more than 16,000 (RNZFB 2002-2003 Annual Report, RNZFB website). The value of the Foundation's Volunteer services was investigated further in the recent Value Added by Voluntary Agencies (VAVA) research.
The VAVA research found that:
- the total estimated number of volunteer full-time equivalent jobs created by the Foundation of the Blind is 823;
- input-voluntary-value-added by the RNZFB is estimated to be between $28.6 million and $42.6 million annually, with $15.7 million to $29.7 million being the estimated contribution from its volunteers.
13.2 Postal Concession
Postal charges for mailing talking books, Braille books as well as mail between blind consumer groups and between blind persons and others are currently covered through a contract between the Ministry of Social Development and NZ Post. Similar concessions exist for the blind in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States (ABC NZ website, 2003). The concession provides recognition of the fact that blindness severely limits a person's ability to access written information (ABC NZ website, 2003). Prior to 1987, the provision of the postal concession was a legislated concession. Currently, however, the contract between MSD and NZ Post secures the concession and is reviewed annually. For 2003-2004, the postal concession is valued at $690,000 (excluding GST).
The RNZFB's Braille and talking book library is the largest user of the postal concession, with the mailing of Braille and talking books estimated to account for approximately 87% of the available fund (RNZFB Personal Communication, 4th August, 2004).
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13.3 Other Services
There are many other services provided that may support or provide assistance to blind and vision impaired persons on an every day basis. These services range from local government provisions through to the work of volunteers at the Levin Radio reading service. Two examples of other services are discussed below.
Recreational Services
Some city councils provide a concession pass for leisure activities for people with disabilities or for those on benefits. Christchurch City Council and The Community Trust support the Kiwiable programme, an initiative designed to promote an inclusive community that offers information, to persons with disabilities, on accessible sport, leisure and recreation activities. Kiwiable encourages and supports people with disabilities to become more active and also provides disability awareness training. The programme also administers a Leisure card, designed to reduce the cost of recreation and leisure for persons with disabilities. The card provides discounts on a variety of recreation and leisure services, museums, movies, gyms and sporting centres. To be eligible for this card individuals must be receiving the Invalids Benefit, Sickness Benefit, long term ACC and with more specific criteria for those under 16 years.
Similar programmes are offered by Wellington and Manawatu City Councils. The Manawatu 'Recreation Ticket' provides discounts on leisure and learning services for a wider variety benefit groups and is not as specifically targeted to persons with disabilities as Christchurch's Kiwiable.
Information Services
The Radio Reading Service is a not for profit radio station which operates from Levin and broadcasts the mid-central North Island. The station provides comprehensive and timely reading of everyday printed literature (news and information) and is currently in the process of expanding its reach. Similar services operate in the United States, Canada and Australia. New Zealand's Radio Reading service has been up and running since 1987 and currently delivers a total air time of 7620 minutes per week. The station is run by volunteers and receives some funding from NZ on Air (in 2003 this was $90 000). While this service may be of particular use to blind and vision impaired persons, other print disabled New Zealanders such as the aged, dyslexic and physically impaired are also seen as benefiting from this service.