Vicdeaf -
National Relay Service update
29 July 2010
Murph becomes a celebrityA short NRS documentary – the true story of Murph Emond, ex truckie from Meredith in rural Victoria – has become a bit of an internet and TV hit. In fact such a hit, that Murph was honoured in June with a certificate handed to him by the Minister for Communications Stephen Conroy.
Murph, who has had a severe hearing impairment since he was a child, only discovered the NRS a few years ago, but it changed his life. In the doco Murph recalls the day he was able to use the NRS to call his interstate daughter - for the first time.
The original documentary became a short community service announcement or CSA run nationally for free by the TV networks. The CSA became so popular that the NRS even received complaints that we were “spending too much money” on advertising.
Read more about Murph: http://www.relayservice.com.au/news/3900.html
You can view Murph’s video: http://www.relayservice.com.au/murph
Or view the community service announcement: http://www.relayservice.com.au/multiattachments/3695.html
Third of the population know about the National Relay Service
Awareness is a valuable tool when you are promoting a service like the NRS.
Not just among those who can benefit directly from it, but among the Australian community as a whole.
The more people know of the NRS and what it does, the more people are likely to recommend it to friends and family and the less likely it will be for relay users to meet misunderstanding or even refusal to accept a call.
From time to time the NRS includes a question in Newspoll surveys to find out what proportion of the population know about the NRS.
Six years ago the figure was 19%. Last year it was 23%. This May, 31% of respondents had heard of the service – almost a third of the population!
Find out more about the NRS www.relayservice.com.au
Lance D Hately
Education & Information Officer, National Relay Service
Level 3, 340 Albert Street, East Melbourne 3002
P 03 9473 1160 | TTY 03 9473 1149 | F 03 9473 1144
SMS Only: 0438 580 615 (new number)
lance.hately@relayservice.com.au | www.relayservice.com.au