Webinar Recap: Launch of the United Blind Leaders Leadership Representation Research Report
United Blind Leaders recently welcomed members and supporters to the official launch of its landmark research report examining the representation of blind and vision impaired people in leadership across Australia's blindness sector.
The webinar marked an important milestone in UBL's advocacy for greater representation, recognising that blind people should not only receive services but also play a central role in leading the organisations that shape those services.
Listen to the recording here.
Read the full transcript here.
A new chapter for UBL
The evening began with acknowledgements of Country and of the generations of blind leaders whose advocacy has paved the way for today's movement.
Members also received an exciting announcement from Vaughan Benison, who introduced the forthcoming United Blind Leaders Podcast. Launching in the coming months, the fortnightly podcast will feature conversations with blind leaders from Australia and around the world, explore different approaches to leadership, showcase UBL webinars, and highlight research and innovation that strengthens blind leadership.
The research
John Simpson presented the findings of UBL's environmental scan of 21 blindness organisations across Australia. The project examined governance, executive leadership, workforce participation and organisational commitments to representation.
The research found that while some organisations have made encouraging progress, blind and vision impaired people remain significantly underrepresented in leadership and decision-making positions across much of the sector.
Some of the key findings included:
• Only a small number of organisations formally require lived or direct experience within their governance structures.
• Just two organisations had CEOs with direct experience of blindness or low vision at the time of the research.
• Only three organisations had published workforce participation targets for blind and vision impaired employees.
• Consumer-led organisations consistently demonstrated much stronger representation than traditional service providers.
The report identifies four major areas for action:
• establishing clear leadership pathways for blind and vision impaired people;
• embedding representation within governance structures;
• developing measurable workforce participation targets; and
• adopting genuine co-design and shared decision-making models.
The report also recommends actions for government, including embedding representation expectations into funding agreements, supporting leadership development initiatives, improving public reporting and recognising co-governance as a quality indicator.
Moving from research to action
Emma Bennison outlined UBL's next steps, emphasising that the report is intended to be a catalyst for change rather than an end in itself.
UBL has invited blindness organisations to work collaboratively to strengthen blind leadership through governance support, mentoring, recruitment advice and leadership development.
Members were encouraged to play an active role by:
• sharing the report with organisations they are connected to;
• encouraging service providers to adopt UBL's Blind Leadership Parity Pledge;
• advocating to governments for stronger accountability measures; and
• promoting the importance of blind leadership within their own networks.
Template advocacy resources will also be developed to help members engage constructively with organisations and government.
An international perspective
The webinar also featured recorded remarks from UBL Director Brian Bashin, who placed Australia's work within a broader international movement towards blind leadership.
Drawing on examples from the United States and internationally, Brian demonstrated that organisations led by blind people consistently achieve strong outcomes while creating authentic cultures of inclusion. His message reinforced that increasing blind leadership is neither symbolic nor aspirational—it is both achievable and beneficial.
His presentation highlighted that Australia's research now provides an important benchmark that can guide future progress and inspire similar work internationally.
Member discussion
Members welcomed the report as a significant and well-structured contribution to the blindness sector and engaged in a thoughtful discussion about its future application.
Topics included the distinction between "lived experience" and "direct experience", opportunities to embed leadership expectations through government and regulatory frameworks, leadership pathways within organisations, and the importance of allies supporting blind leadership while ensuring blind people remain central to decision-making.
Several participants also reflected on the potential for this work to become a model for other disability sectors once its impact has been demonstrated within the blindness community.
Looking ahead
The webinar concluded with an invitation for members to become actively involved in UBL's growing work by becoming members, participating in future webinars, contributing to the upcoming podcast and supporting advocacy efforts.
The launch of this research represents an important step towards a future where blind and vision impaired people are routinely represented at every level of governance, leadership and decision-making within organisations that exist to serve our community.
United Blind Leaders looks forward to working collaboratively with organisations, governments and the blindness community to turn these recommendations into meaningful and lasting change.