EASE Ticketing
A good night out
Introduction
EASE is a longstanding subscription ticketing service for people with
disabilities run by Arts Access Victoria. It has about 600 individual
and group members, and several thousand people use the service. They include
individuals with physical, sensory, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities,
as well as those with life-threatening illnesses and learning disabilities.
Organisations such as supported residential services have also taken up
membership, enabling the service to reach people who are homeless, in
rehabilitation or in need of support due to domestic violence or substance
abuse.
The EASE service
We subscribe to EASE because my daughter, who has cerebral palsy,
absolutely loves the theatre. Belonging to EASE means we have the opportunity
to attend the theatre at a reasonable price. It also gives me (the mum)
the sense of inclusion and community, and a feeling that our needs are
just as important as any other family’s.
Name withheld by request
EASE makes it possible for many people, who would not otherwise have
the opportunity, to attend arts and entertainment events. It provides
information about venue accessibility and ensures that those who book
with EASE get the most suitable seat for their needs. It handles all the
arrangements of ticket booking and designates a suitable location for
collecting tickets at the venue. It also books seats for friends and family
members who don’t have a disability.
Information about access and upcoming events is provided to EASE subscribers
via the quarterly EASE Update and a telephone service. The Update is produced
in multiple formats including audio tape, braille, large print and email.
This means, for instance, that subscribers can respond using the speech
access function on their computers.
EASE recognises the financial disadvantage suffered by people with disabilities
who may be underemployed, incur extra costs in attending events and have
limited seating choices. It provides flexible booking and payment options,
organises reduced-price offers and distributes free tickets to disadvantaged
groups. A number of organisations use EASE because it enables their members
and participants to go to otherwise financially inaccessible events.
I work in a Community Health Centre, servicing clients with disabilities,
socially and economically disadvantaged clients, etc. We have been privileged
to access free and cheap tickets on many occasions, however one springs
to mind as a real winner. It was the final night of The Mikado, starring
Jon English. We were offered a load of tickets for $2 each. We were able
to send our Young Mothers Support Group along with other families who
would never have an opportunity to experience the theatre.
Sue Beenck, Banyule Community Health Service
EASE’s wide experience with access issues has enabled it to establish
a variety of advocacy and training activities. Access advice and training
in the areas of disability awareness, equal opportunity and Disability
Action Plans are provided to venues by EASE staff on a fee-for-service
basis.
EASE’s role as an advocate has also led to partnerships with agencies
with similar interests. In association with Vision Australia and VicDeaf,
the service negotiates with producers and organises the provision of audio
description, signed interpretation and pre-show tactile (touch) tours
to introduce people with a vision impairment to the venue environment,
including seating and the stage set. EASE’s work in the partnership
also includes managing all the arrangements, booking and helping train
the interpreters, promoting the event and selling the tickets.
In encouraging people to get along to a good night out, EASE promotes
a wide range of entertainment and facilitates more than 20,000 attendances
at cultural events each year. In this audience development capacity, EASE
has also worked to demonstrate that people with disabilities are a valuable
market for arts organisations. It argues that selling a discounted ticket
to this audience adds to overall revenue as it does not undercut existing
audiences.
The distribution of free tickets (‘papering’) is another
service EASE offers which assists arts organisations in getting a full
house. This often provides people with their first arts experience, and
the arts organisation gains some kudos for cultural inclusion.
Vision and management
Many years ago, probably in the early 1990s, EASE coordinator Dean
Michael asked me to participate with him in a disability access audit
of the [Melbourne] Arts Centre’s entertainment venues ... Perhaps
the current good access at the Fairfax arose from that day? And finally
this year wheelchair seating in the Concert Hall moved from the passageway
behind the stalls to the back row, amongst other back row patrons. Slowly
the wheels turn.
Hilary Ash, EASE Member
EASE, initially named Entertainment Access Service, was established
by Arts Access in Victoria in 1987. At this time the major ticket agencies
were becoming more automated and corporatised. Much of the existing advocacy
in the arts for people with disabilities concerned participation rather
than attendance. EASE took up the issue of attendance with one coordinator,
a phone and a photocopier. In 2005, 17 years on, it has doubled in size
— employing two people instead of one — and makes extensive
use of new technologies. Developments such as the Disability Discrimination
Act 1992 have also impacted on its work and extended its lobbying, advocacy
and training activities.
Part of EASE’s income is derived from memberships and ticket sales.
Individual and organisational members pay an annual subscription of between
$25 and $55. A small fee (much smaller than that of the major agencies)
is collected on paid tickets. The combined income of membership and fees
covers the cost of one staff member. Another staff salary and all running
costs come through government grants to Arts Access which continues to
manage EASE. Any income from training that EASE provides goes into the
program to update materials and to provide staff with professional development.
EASE keeps in touch with its members through regular surveys. All feedback
received via phone, email or post is documented. An annual focus group
forum with interested EASE members allows for more refined feedback on
which events people prefer to see. It also seeks members’ thoughts
about directions and partnerships. A further benefit of the forum is that
it is an effective method of informing EASE members of their rights under
the Disability Discrimination Act and encouraging them to become advocates
themselves.
Long-term goals
EASE’s unique service, combining ticketing with information on
venue access and a welcoming attitude, has had an important impact on
access to arts and entertainment events for people with a disability.
Nevertheless, it remains the case that people with a disability are much
less likely to go to arts and entertainment events than the rest of the
population. Structural access, from transport and parking to walkways
and seating, is often limited or highly restrictive. The internal environment
may have problems such as noise and glare. Appropriate toilets may not
be available and it is likely that services such as sign interpretation
and audio description are not provided. Venue marketing rarely provides
information about access or uses alternate formats for information about
programmes, ticket prices and booking arrangements.
These continuing problems will only be addressed when mainstream ticketing
services take up the EASE model and when the presenters, producers and
major ticket agencies take on their obligations under the Disability Discrimination
Act. This has always been EASE’s long-term goal — to reach
the point when there is no longer a need for a separate ‘ghettoised’
ticket service. Now there are signs that, in the future, there may not
be a need for EASE in its current form. For instance, the Victorian Department
of Human Services has recently introduced a service that overlaps with
EASE’s provision for companions of people with a disability. A Companion
Card is available for people with a disability on the basis that charging
a companion or carer for a ticket to accompany a person with a disability
would be discriminatory.
Conclusion
EASE highlights the way it is possible to increase mainstream audiences
while attracting new niche markets. In an improved climate of access,
EASE could become a provider of expert advice to mainstream commercial
ticketing agencies and arts organisations who handle their own box offices.
There are few, if any, services in Australia with EASE’s contacts
and expertise in access issues. Its national and international networks
allow staff to have up-to-date information about new programs, access
solutions and services. On this basis, it may have the potential to attract
commercial sponsorship and offer its services on a new footing in the
future.
I would like to let you know about my recent experience of attending
the Pearl Fishers opera. My friend (who also has a disability) and I obtained
front row seats and could not have attended without the discounted price
of the tickets. We obtained these tickets because Bear In Mind is a subscriber
to EASE/Arts Access. My friend was so happy to be there [and] I was enjoying
watching her being happy.
Lyn, Bear In Mind (a support group for people with acquired brain injury)
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