2003 - 04 Annual Report - Sbs

59SBS Radio continued to produce and broadcast the longrunning Homereach multilingual radio information servicewhich provides important information to houseboundpeople and their carers. During 2003-04, the service wasbroadcast in seven languages: Russian, Vietnamese,Spanish, Urdu, Sinhalese, Tamil and Estonian.SBS Radio also produced a campaign for theMulticultural Disability Advocacy Association of NSW in10 languages and a community health campaign in ninelanguages commissioned by the Transcultural MentalHealth Centre.The SBS website’s corporate information is availablein PDF and HTML formats, in compliance with W3Cinternational accessibility guidelines. In addition, peoplewho are deaf or hearing impaired are able to comment onSBS programming via a TTY telephone service.RESEARCHSBS Impacts Project:SBS and Australian Cultural DiversityIn late 2003, a collaborative project involving SBS,Associate Professor Gai Hawkins of the School of Mediaand Communications at the University of New SouthWales and Professor Ien Ang, Director of the Centre forCultural Research at the University of Western Sydney,received three-year funding approval from the AustralianResearch Council.The research project, The Special Broadcasting Serviceand Australian Cultural Democracy: Evolution, Usesand Innovation, is a thematic assessment of the roleand impact of SBS in Australian media, culture, societyand democracy. Key themes will involve SBS’s role inthe evolution of multicultural Australia, its place as aninnovator in media practice, and its contribution as aforce for social change in Australian society.In May 2004, a full-time research officer from theUniversity of New South Wales was appointed to theproject. The research officer is based at SBS Artarmonand has begun the initial stages of research, including adetailed analysis of SBS archival material.SBS AND THE ENVIRONMENTAlthough the Charter activities are not directly relatedto the objectives of the Environmental Protection andBiodiversity Conservation Act1999, SBS is committed toreducing the impact of its activities on the environmentthrough innovation, the promotion of recycling and theuse of recycled products where and whenever possibleand appropriate.SBS continued long-standing programs to recycle paper,cardboard, glass, aluminium beverage containers andprinter cartridges, fluorescent lighting tubes and oldmobile phones and phone batteries. The Corporationpurchased recycled paper products, improved lightingcontrol systems, and trialled the introduction ofphotocopy paper made from 100% recycled fibre.In 2003-04, an environmental audit of SBS’s Sydneypremises identified the potential for pollution of thewaterways surrounding SBS through the accidentalspillage of both diesel fuel and water treatment chemicalsheld on site. A bund with sufficient capacity to hold allthe diesel fuel stored on site was subsequently installedto eliminate this potential problem and spill managementkits purchased to handle oil and fuel spills in SBS carpark areas.The volume of water treatment chemicals stored onsite has also been reduced and storage arrangementsimproved to eliminate the potential for accidental spillage.SBS RADIO AND TELEVISIONYOUTH ORCHESTRAThe SBS Radio and Television Youth Orchestra is anon-profit company supported by SBS. It providesopportunities for talented young Australian musicians froma diverse range of cultural backgrounds to experienceand bring to audiences sophisticated and challengingprograms of classical musical performance. Matthew Krel,the founding director of the orchestra, continued to leadand conduct the orchestra during the year.The orchestra was invited to Russia in April 2004. Thevisit served not only as an opportunity to demonstratethe prowess of young Australian musicians to Russianaudiences but to give the musicians greater insight