I was lucky enough to be in Scotland and England this last fortnight. As you do when you go overseas you tend to compare your lifestyle with the country you are visiting. Whether it’s the weather (it was cold and wet), the cost of living (God it’s expensive) or if you have a disability, the level of disability access. (If you are deaf, you sometimes get a bit gob-smacked about what they have and we don’t.)

I did wonder how the Brits survive. I mean the minimum wage over there is slightly lower than what it is in Australia. But wages in England, overall, are way lower than Australia. In Australia the average salary is $7500 a month whereas in England it is $5213.19. This is a whopping difference. Especially when petrol is around $3 a litre and groceries around the same cost as in Australia.

While it is not cheap in Australia to rent, it’s incredibly expensive in England, particularly given the disparity in wages.

My cousin rents a smallish 2 bedroom flat for around $2700 a month some 50 kms outside of London. Average rent in the UK is $2421.71 a month. Sydney is Australia’s most expensive place to rent with average rental being $3228 a month. In Melbourne it is $2383.33 a month. While it is not cheap in Australia to rent, it’s incredibly expensive in England, particularly given the disparity in wages. One realises just how lucky we are in Australia, despite the fact that we have our own cost of living challenges. (The source of all the above data is my trusty friend, Google.)

Now, in two weeks I cannot lay claim to knowing if disability access in Britain is better than Australia. I did notice the train system is probably not that much more accessible than what it is in Australia. There is still a step up to trains on many platforms requiring staff to bring manual ramps. The underground trains are incredibly tiny and nearly always packed. I did wonder how a wheelchair would fit in them. The plus is that all wheelchair and scooter users travel free. In fact, I believe, many people with a disability, including people who are Deaf/HoH, can claim an Access Travel Pass. This entitles free public transport on trains and buses. I am happy to be corrected if I have interpreted the online information wrongly.

Inclusionaustralia.org.au notes that a person with a disability working full time in Australia will earn $9000 less than a non-disabled person on the minimum wage.

It is just as well that people with a disability in the UK are entitled to this because public transport is incredibly expensive in England. Cityam.com notes that London public transport is the most expensive in the world. Like in Australia, the pay disparity between people with a disability and non-disabled is huge. The average salary of a person with a disability in the UK in 2021 was $26.87 an hour. This is more than 14% less than non-disabled. The story isn’t much better in Australia. Inclusionaustralia.org.au notes that a person with a disability working full time in Australia will earn $9000 less than a non-disabled person on the minimum wage.

We are fond of moaning about our lack of disability access in Australia. And well we should. We should not settle, ever, for second best and exclusion. But as you can see the grass is not always necessarily greener on the other side. That said, I would love to see a few things that I saw in the UK introduced to Australia. The British Access to Work program, for example, will pay employers up to $124 000. Makes the $12 000 we get for Auslan for employment seem pretty pathetic, doesn’t it?

Looking at the data it doesn’t seem to have improved the income or employment outcomes of people with a disability in the UK all that much. Indeed, Scope.org.uk notes that only 53% of people with a disability in the UK are employed, compared to 82% of the general population. This is eerily similar to Australia.

But one thing I can tell you is that captioning in the UK is streets ahead of Australia. I turned on the TV and every single show on every single free to air channel was captioned. It was beautiful. It frustrates me no end that our ‘NEW’ free to air digital channels that have been around for over ten years now, still have an exemption to captioning all of their shows. It’s pathetic and it is time we compelled all of these channels to provide access.

There are 12 blockbuster movies with open captions being shown in the next two weeks. The Amy Winehouse Biopic alone has an incredible 16 sessions being shown with open captions.

This week Expression Australia was advertising Hoyt’s open captions. Apparently, Hoyts are offering open captions three times a week. Expression Australia were encouraging us Deafies to make a night out of it. Find one of the three weekly captioned showings near you and have fun with family and friends! THREE … Lucky us!

I took a look at a website in London called Londonnet.co.uk. There are 12 blockbuster movies with open captions being shown in the next two weeks. The Amy Winehouse biopic alone has an incredible 16 sessions being shown with open captions. I confess that I am not 100% sure it’s open captioned, it could be the dreaded Craptiview. In my defense I searched Open Captions, so I am assuming this is the case. Apologies if I have led you all up the garden path. But if I am right the paltry three offered by Hoyts looks pretty pathetic, doesn’t it?

I even saw a Deaf cooking presenter on the Morning Show in the UK. She presents a cooking session in BSL to the mainstream channel with a BSL interpreter present. This is fantastic and provides great exposure. It’s great for kids who use BSL to see their language on mainstream channels for mainstream audiences. I believe British law compels channels to provide a certain amount on BSL content each week. It was just so refreshing to see a BSL presenter teaching mainstream stuff for all of the audience and not just a Deaf audience.

But the most exciting thing for me was Signapse. This company are rolling out artificial intelligence sign language announcements at train stations in Britain. Basically, the AI generates “live journey” announcements to BSL on screens around the station so that Deaf community members can get access to travel announcements in BSL. This is exciting and something that I would love to see in Australia. You can read about it HERE.

But despite these things, I am lucky to be living in Australia. I love England, my country of birth. It’s a fantastic place to visit. The people are great too. But live there, even with the seemingly better disability access, I don’t think so.

We have it tough in Australia and disability access and inclusion is in many ways light years behind some of the so-called comparable countries. But believe me when I tell you that people in the Old Blighty are doing it tough. Alas, the grass is not always greener on the other side.