The indicative plan to 31 December 2011 provided access to 61 screens across 31 locations. Media Access Australia can report that 58 screens across 29 locations were in operation by the given date. Of the 58 screens in operation, 39 screens show both captions and audio description and 19 screens show captions only.
The delay in the rollout of audio description on caption-only screens is due to initial Doremi Fidelio systems being sent to Australia set up for the USA market. Adding to the delay is the certification process the system must go through with Australian Standards. The Fidelio system is expected to be received by the cinemas in late January or early February.
There are two variances to the Plan: Village Cinemas, Southland in Melbourne will be operational with captions on two screens in the next week; and Event Cinemas, Castle Hill in Sydney which is yet to indicate a new commencement date.
There are a few interesting facts in the rollout of accessible locations to date. Firstly, Event Cinemas' Marion Megaplex in Adelaide has four accessible screens – one more screen than the complex is required to have. A downside of this is that there are only seven caption and audio description units, as opposed to the required five per screen (20 in total). Cinema management advise that more are on order to correct this. At Event Cinema’s Myer Centre in Brisbane, one of the three accessible screens is a VMax screen, providing movies on a bigger screen, with a superior sound system and bigger cinema seats for patrons. Similar to the Myer Centre, Reading Cinemas at Charlestown has rolled out an accessible screen on one of its Titan XC screens.
You can view the rollout schedule on the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs’ web page for the Cinema Access Implementation Plan. This page also provides a Question and Answer document addressing key issues raised for consideration.
This report does not take into account the current accessible independent cinema locations.
Find accessible locations near you or read about attending accessible cinema.
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