TRANSCRIPT
Kirsten Busby is doing what she loves best - singing the opera.
The 24-year-old says it's a love that started at an early age.
“The four movements out of (Gabriel) Fauré's Requiem - and I just remember absolutely falling in love with the music. And wanting to find recordings. And just stumbling across other things, but I had also been raised, unbeknownst to me mind you, with classical music as a child because my grandma is a classical pianist. And my great grandfather was as well."
Born blind, she says pursuing this path has not been easy, and that there have been many hurdles to overcome, including opposition from directors, learning the logistics of stage movement, and the lack of role models in the space.
"The only sort of person who anyone who wants to get into blind classical singing has to go off is (Andrea) Bocelli. We have no one else who has really gone through - and done it. And I suppose there is that precedence, especially in opera, for people with disabilities to give it a go. And hopefully feel confident enough to pursue it. So that way, it starts breaking down this idea of there is only a certain type of person who can do opera.”
Arts consultant Morwenna Collett is a musician with multiple sclerosis.
She works with organisations to improve diversity, access and inclusion.
She says the data on the under-representation of people with disability in the arts is stark - and progress on that front has been painstakingly slow.
"It's 18 per cent of the population (Australians with disability account for) - and yes, the most recent stats that we have are from the Making Art Work report from then the Australia Council many years ago now. And that showed us that only 9 per cent of professional artists identify as disabled. And we also know from that report - perhaps more concerningly - that disabled artists are only earning 42 per cent less than their non-disabled counterparts. So we do have some really big issues around under-representation, but also underpayment, lack of opportunities, career pathways, all sorts of things."
Rebecca Young is the CEO at South Australia's Access2Arts organisation.
She says despite issues with access, people within the disability community are much more engaged in the arts, particularly at the community level.
"Our research internally at Access2Arts has shown that most of our respondents in our most recent survey - about 85 per cent regularly attended arts activities, which is quite high compared to the general population. But those arts activities can have quite a broad range of barriers to access. So what we find is that the disability community tends to attend things that are much more community-based, a lot of the time. Arts and culture are part of the fabric of life. It is what allows people to understand the human condition - and how other people's lives are lived. We have a lot of intersectional communities. So we have lot of First Nations people. They are far over-represented in the disability space."
But Ms Young says that, as Kirsten Busby has found, carving out a space to be creative is an ongoing challenge.
"There are lot of issues for disabled artists. A lot of them are common with other artists. So there a lot of issues with accessible housing, affordable housing, unsustainable wages - and I am really hoping to see some progress on some of those wage models. And the way things such as artist payments can interact with the disability pension and NDIS. Because those are things that will really allow artists to focus on their work, rather than put food on the table - hand to mouth."
David Doyle is the executive director of the WA disability arts organisation DADAA and a member of the CEO Leadership Group at the national body, Arts Access Australia.
He says there is a strong glimmer of hope that things will improve, with the federal government appearing to be close to releasing its new Associated Disability Arts Plan, six years after consultation on a National Arts and Disability Strategy.
"And we don't know the actual target (details of the plan), but it is how the Office of the Arts and Creative Australia rolls out that five million (dollars). What their lens for investment is. We will know that in a few weeks. But there are clear signposts around artists with disabilities leading their own practice, leading their own organisations, and determining where they want investment."
In a statement to SBS, a spokesperson for the federal Department of the Arts says the plan is still being finalised and is due to be released this year to "help lay the foundations for systemic change" in the sector, and to achieve more equitable access for Australians with disability.
Meanwhile, Kirsten Busby is now rehearsing for two upcoming productions - the Pirates of Penzance and Cavalleria Rusticana - by reading musical scores in Braille.
She says the goal is to one day sing for Opera Australia as a principal artist.
In the meantime, she hopes her story is a catalyst for people with disabilities to dream big.
"My policy is I will try anything once. And I think if you encourage people with disabilities to give whatever they want a go. Whether it is opera singing, whether it is surfing, whether it is climbing a tree - they may never do it again. But to actually have that encouragement to just give it a go in the first place is the biggest step."
Kirsten Busby is the ambassador of the in Newcastle, New South Wales, running from 10 May until 11 May 2024.
