Member Services

 

Aussiecon 4 is committed to providing a range of services to make your convention experience more enjoyable.

Official Aussiecon 4 Merchandise

Fo’ Paws Productions will be providing the official merchandise at Aussiecon 4, including regular T-shirts, longsleeved T's, V-necks, ladies' cut T's; embroidered denim and polo shirts, and tote bags.

New official Aussiecon 4 T-shirt designs are now available!  You can pre-order to pick up at the convention or get shirts mailed to you post-con if you can't be there. Pre-orders must be received by August 30th.  The shirts and more information are at

http://www.fopaws.com/categories/a4/index.html

Scott and Jane Dennis of Fo’ Paws have been providing merchandise for SF conventions, especially Worldcons, for many, many years.

Fo' Paws can ship anywhere in the world, and they charge one low shipping fee for any number of items in an order: $5.75 for US domestic, US$12.00 to Australia, Canada, Europe, or anywhere else on the planet.

Child Care

Regrettably Aussiecon 4 is not able to provide childcare services due to the numerous constraints of providing such a service in a temporary location.  Parents and guardians are advised to make their own arrangements for childcare services.  For out of town visitors you should check with your hotel regarding childcare or baby sitting services.  The Information Desk  in the Registration area at Aussiecon 4 will have information about services available in the local area.

Check here for baby sitters and nannies http://www.findababysitter.com.au/Search/Babysitters

 

Disability Services

The MCEC
Hotel Accommodation
Getting To Melbourne
Getting Around Melbourne
Service Animals
Hearing Impairments
Mobility Impairments
Vision Impairments

An Aussiecon 4 Invitation

Especially if you live outside Australia, the idea of travelling to Aussiecon 4 may seem a bit intimidating if you're also dealing with disability issues. However, Australia is increasingly disability-friendly, and Melbourne is quite accommodating. To make Worldcon as accessible to its members as possible, we've gathered information to help you plan your trip, and we will be providing on-site services as well.

If you have questions not covered here, or if you will need disability-related assistance at the convention, please email disabilitservices@aussiecon4.org.au . Though we may be unable to fulfill some requests, the sooner you let us know your needs, the better the chances that we will be able to help.

I look forward to seeing you at Aussiecon 4.

Karen Babcock
Disability Services Coordinator
disabilityservices@aussiecon4.org.au

The MCEC

The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) is a lovely venue in terms of disability access. Assisted hearing technology is used in all meeting rooms and event spaces, motorised doors provide easy wheelchair access to all function rooms, and lifts and signs have Braille markers. Wheelchair-accessible toilets are at various locations within the MCEC.

For more information, see the MCEC Disabled Access page.

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Accommodation at Worldcon Hotels

To help you determine which hotel has the facilities and services you need, we sent out questionnaires to get detailed information about disability access. Kudos and thanks to the hotels for their quick and thorough replies. Below are their responses. For readability, we've split it into two tables:

  • Main Convention Hotels—the party hotel and other large hotels: Crowne Plaza, Grand Hotel, Hilton South Wharf and Holiday Inn on Flinders.
  • Other Hotels—lodgings that are smaller and slightly further away: Best Western Riverside, Highlander Apartments, Hotel Enterprize, Pensione Hotel and Quality Hotel Batman's Hill.

 

Main Convention Hotels

  Crowne Plaza Grand Hotel Hilton South Wharf Holiday Inn on Flinders
Distance to MCEC 140m / 155yd 360m / 396yd Connected 390m / 430yd
Common areas
Level/ramped entrances Yes * Yes All Side entrance from driveway
Automatic entrance doors Yes Doorman 7 am - 7 pm Yes - main entrance Yes
Accessible parking Valet parking from driveway Valet parking only 20+ disabled spaces Valet parking from driveway
Lobby and common areas wheelchair accessible Yes, except to pool area Yes, except steps into pool and spa Yes Yes
Large-print or Braille menus at restaurants No No No No
Signage for wheelchair routes No No Yes No
Braille signage No No No No
Lifts to all floors Yes Yes Yes Yes
Room key needed to access accommodation floors No No All floors No
Other special lift access for particular floors No Possibly ** Key needed for all floors No
Braille in lifts No No Yes No
Audio announcements of floors in lifts No No Yes No
Accessible stalls in public men's / women's toilets No Yes No No
Accessible public unisex toilet Yes No Yes Yes
Wheelchair-accessible public phones No No No No
Adjustable volume public phones No No No No
TTY public phones On request No No No
Guest Rooms - Mobility Impaired
Accessible rooms in total 4 2 15 2
Accessible standard category rooms 4 2 6 2
Accessible deluxe category rooms 0 0 3 0
Accessible double/twin rooms 0 2 6 0
Extra bed/cot available in twin/double accessible rooms for triple occupancy No Yes Yes No
Accessible rooms with roll-in showers 4 2 15 2
Accessible rooms with bathtubs 0 0 15 0
Do accessible rooms have pushpads / automatic doors? No No No No
Special equipment for guests with mobility impairments:
  Raised toilet seat No No No Yes
  Shower chair Yes Yes Yes Yes
  Handheld showerhead Yes Yes Yes Yes
Guest Rooms - Hearing Impaired
Number of rooms especially for hearing impaired? 0 0 0 0
Special equipment for guests with hearing impairments:
  TTY telephone device Yes No No No
  Telephone flashes when rings Yes Yes Yes Yes
  Bed shaker No No No No
  Visual alert for door knocker No No No No
  Alarm clock that controls lamp No No No No
  Vibrating alarm clock No No No No
  Audio/visual smoke detector Only in accessible rooms No No Only in accessible rooms
  Closed caption TV No No Yes No
Guest Rooms - Visually Impaired
Number of rooms especially for visually impaired 0 0 0 0
Room numbers indicated in Braille? No No Yes No
Explanations of facility usage in Braille or large print No No No No
Audio smoke detectors in the rooms? Yes Yes No Yes
  Crowne Plaza Grand Hotel Hilton South Wharf Holiday Inn on Flinders
Notes:
* Crowne Plaza reports that "driveway entrance via vehicle is accessible. From street level via old MCC entrance and lift."
** Grand Hotel reports that "assistance may be required in opening glass doors in front of lifts on accommodation floors—Front Office staff gladly assist."

Other Hotels

  Best Western Riverside Highlander Apartments Hotel Enterprize Pensione Hotel Quality Hotel Batman's Hill
Distance to MCEC 590m / 650yd 590m / 650yd 470m / 520yd 360m / 396yd 530m / 580yd
Common areas
Level/ramped entrances No No * Spencer St. Yes Collins St.
Automatic entrance doors 24-hour doorman No Yes Yes Yes
Accessible parking 3 steps between parking and lift No No No Next to lift
Lobby and common areas wheelchair accessible Stairs on 2 levels No Yes Yes Yes
Large-print or Braille menus at restaurants No No No No No
Signage for wheelchair routes No No No No Yes
Braille signage No No No No No
Lifts to all floors Yes No Yes Stairs between 3rd and 4th floors Yes
Room key needed to access accommodation floors Yes N/a No No Yes
Other special lift access for particular floors Flash cards needed for all floors N/a No No No
Braille in lifts No No No No No
Audio announcements of floors in lifts No No No No Only in emergencies
Accessible stalls in public men's / women's toilets No No No Yes No
Accessible public unisex toilet No No No No Yes
Wheelchair-accessible public phones No No No public phones No On request
Adjustable volume public phones No No No public phones No On request
TTY public phones No No No public phones No On request
Guest Rooms - Mobility Impaired
Accessible rooms in total 1 ** 0 11 3 4 clubrooms
Accessible standard category rooms 1 0 0 3 0
Accessible deluxe category rooms 0 0 11 *** 0 4 clubrooms
Accessible double/twin rooms 0 0 11 *** 2 double; 1 twin 0
Extra bed/cot available in twin/double accessible rooms for triple occupancy No No Yes No n/a
Accessible rooms with roll-in showers 1 0 11 3 4
Accessible rooms with bathtubs 0 0 0 0 0
Do accessible rooms have pushpads / automatic doors? No No No No No
Special equipment for guests with mobility impairments:
  Raised toilet seat Yes No No No No
  Shower chair Yes No Yes Yes Yes
  Handheld showerhead Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Guest Rooms - Hearing Impaired
Number of rooms especially for hearing impaired? 0 0 0 0 0
Special equipment for guests with hearing impairments:
  TTY telephone device No No No No On request
  Telephone flashes when rings No No Yes No Yes
  Bed shaker No No No No No
  Visual alert for door knocker No No No No No
  Alarm clock that controls lamp No No No No No
  Vibrating alarm clock No No No No No
  Audio/visual smoke detector No No Yes No Regular smoke detector
  Closed caption TV No No No No Yes
Guest Rooms - Visually Impaired
Number of rooms especially for visually impaired 0 0 0 0 0
Room numbers indicated in Braille? No No No No No
Explanations of facility usage in Braille or large print No No No No No
Audio smoke detectors in the rooms? No No Yes Yes No
  Best Western Riverside Highlander Apartments Hotel Enterprize Pensione Hotel Quality Hotel Batman's Hill
Notes:
* Highlander Apartments reports that "there is no disability access at the Highlander Apartments, it is an annex of the Riverside and quite small so not suitable at all."
** Best Western Riverside has steps at all entrances and reports that "apartment with wheelchair access shower is not suitable for guests who cannot raise themselves from their wheelchair."
*** Hotel Enterprize reports that "all the disabled access rooms are twin double deluxe. These rooms are sometimes called twin superior or business twin rooms."

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Getting To Melbourne

Airlines: Most airlines will carry medical equipment at no charge and will provide assistance at the airport to passengers with disabilities. Contact your specific airline for details.

Airports: Tullamarine Airport, located approximately 25 km northwest of downtown Melbourne, has good facilities such as unisex toilets. A tiny number of Jetstar domestic flights arrive at Avalon Airport.

Skybus: The rapid-link bus service between has a 100%-wheelchair-accessible fleet for service between Tullamarine Airport and the city. Once you arrive at the city, shuttles to city hotels are available (some but not all are accessible). For more information, see Skybus service info.

Trains within Victoria: All V/Line regional train stations within Victoria and some V/Line coaches are wheelchair accessible. For more information, see V/Line accessible regional services.

Interstate train travel: Travelling by train can be a great way to see Australia. It can provide challenges for disabled passengers, but access is improving. The following services provide train service to Melbourne:

  • CountryLink provides service between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. For more information, see their special needs page.

  • Great Southern Rail operates the Overland between Melbourne and Adelaide. For more information, see their special needs page.

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Getting Around Melbourne

Public Transportation

Melbourne has an excellent public transportation system. At the heart of the system are the commuter train lines that radiate from the Central Business District. Trams and buses provide inner-city transportation and transportation between suburbs. For the most part, public transport in Melbourne is disability-friendly.

Trains: All metropolitan trains and train stations are wheelchair accessible. For more information, see Metlink Accessible Train info.

Trams: Melbourne's tram network is partially accessible. The low-floor trams don't have ramps, so access is only possible at special stops. Better to keep to buses and trains. For more information, see Metlink Accessible Tram info.

Buses: Most of the buses in Melbourne are wheelchair accessible. For more information, see Metlink Accessible Bus info.

Private Transportation

Car/van rental: Some car and van hire companies provide vehicles which are wheelchair accessible or can be modified to be hand-controlled. These vehicles should always be booked well in advance.

  • Avis Australia has both wheelchair-accessible vans and hand controls that can be fitted to some cars. Hand controls must be requested at least two days in advance.

  • Disability Hire Vehicles has long term rental vehicles available. They are based in Sydney but have vehicles in Melbourne.

  • Hertz offers a number of services, including hand controls on some cars.

  • Nordern Transport Industries rents wheelchair-accessible vans.

  • Wheelaway runs a fleet of wheelchair-accessible vehicles available for short or long-term hire.

Taxis: For those with visual impairments taxi totems, located primarily in the inner suburbs, provide travel information in tactile and Braille text and have a light that can be activated to alert passing taxis to stop. Wheelchair-accessible taxis are available throughout Melbourne and its suburbs, including the airport. At the airport, the taxi coordinator will request a wheelchair taxi for you. You can also request one when booking:

  • Silver Top Taxis on +61 3 8413 7202

  • Yellow Cabs on 13 6294 (often referred to as "13 MAXI")

Note that when calling these numbers you have to ask specifically for a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, as the numbers are used for anything non-standard (e.g., carrying more than four passengers); if they think you want a van for capacity reasons, they're more likely to charge at the van tarriff.

Note also that Victorian residents who have a Multi Purpose Taxi Program card can get a 50% discount on taxi fares. Visitors from overseas do not qualify for the discount. Taxi drivers are NOT allowed to charge you more, or to charge a separate "wheelchair lift fee", if you do not have the Multi Purpose Taxi Program card.

Walking and Wheeling

The City of Melbourne has downloadable maps that include the locations of wheelchair-accessible toilets and telephones, public TTY telephones, disability designated car parking spaces, accessible off-street parking, train stations, accessible pathways, taxi ranks, public seating and street gradients.

CBD Melbourne Mobility Map 2009 (PDF, 2.8Mb)
Melbourne Docklands precinct mobility map (PDF, 3.5Mb)
Entertainment and Sporting Mobility Map 2009 (PDF, 2.4Mb)

The City of Melbourne has also gathered information about disability services, accessible amenities, and the Mobility Centre in the city.

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Bringing Service Animals to Melbourne

Air travel within Australia: According to Civil Aviation Regulations, dogs "accompanying a visually impaired or hearing impaired person as a guide or an assistant" are allowed on planes; all other service animals must fly in cargo unless the airline has received written permission from the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

Quarantine: If you are bringing a service dog to Australia, it will not be subject to the standard 30-day quarantine period as long as you and the dog meet the criteria specified by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service.

Public tranport: Guide dogs, hearing guide dogs, and guide dogs in training can travel for free on all public transport services. Other service animals may be allowed to use public tranport, but you will need to obtain an Assistance Animal Pass.

Public spaces, businesses: Guide dogs for people with vision and hearing impairments are permitted in public spaces and businesses. They are not considered pets and are not subject to "no pets allowed" regulations. The rules on other service animals are less clear.

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Hearing Impairments

The MCEC has assisted-listening devices available. In addition, we will reserve seats near the stage at major events held in the plenary for those with special needs.

Update as of 12 August  As we have not had any requests, we will not have sign language interpreters at Aussiecon 4. If you need sign language interpreters, please contact Disability Services ASAP so we can try to accommodate you.

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Mobility Impairments

We will set up seating so there are spaces for scooter users and wheelchair users at all panels and events.

If you are bringing your own power chair or scooter from a country that uses 110 or 120 volts, do remember that Australia uses 230-volt power.  Unless your battery charger has a transformer that can handle the higher voltage, you will need to rent a charger for use in Australia.

*Update as of 12 August*

Scooter Rental

Great news for those who wish to rent equipment to help with mobility issues at Aussiecon 4:  Melbourne Mobility Centre have kindly agreed to give Aussiecon 4 members the 50 percent discount normally offered only to Health Care and Veteran card holders, so electric scooters and wheelchairs will cost only A$14/day.  They also rent manual wheelchairs, walking frames, and crutches.

They take cash, Visa/MasterCard, or cheque.

They would prefer everyone book directly with them, so that they can arrange pickup times/places/etc and to meet individuals and instruct them concerning the equipment.

To book mobility equipment, please contact:

    Melbourne Mobility Centre
    Ph: +61 3 9650 6499 TTY: +61 3 9650 9316
    Freecall (within Australia): 1800 735 266 Fax: +61 3 9650 9491
    http://www.melbournemobilitycentre.com.au
    email: enquiries@melbournemobilitycentre.com.au

Be sure to tell them you are with Aussiecon 4 when you book in order to get the discount.

Note that we've already asked Melbourne Mobility Centre to reserve equipment for those who have contacted Disability Services about scooter rental.  If you haven't emailed us about this, we encourage you to contact MMC soon.

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Vision Impairments

We will reserve seats near the stage at major events held in the plenary for those with special needs

Update as of 12 August  As we have not had any requests, we will not have audio versions of printed materials.  We will, however, offer a large-print version of the program guide, and we will have CDs with the Souvenir Book and Program Guide PDFs so that those with limited vision can use viewer magnification.  We’ve contacted members who have asked about large print; if you have not emailed us about this and wish to have a large-print Program Guide, the CD, or both, please email us ASAP so that we know how many to produce.

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Fan Funds

The community of science fiction and fantasy fans is world-wide, and world-wide means travel if fans are to get together. To make this easier, fan funds have been collecting funds for decades to send deserving candidates to conventions across the oceans. Their web pages have all the details on contributing and voting.  LiveJournal also has a Fan Fund Community .

  Oz Fan Funds

Not a fund, but a site about them.

  DUFF

The Down Under Fan Fund was founded in 1972 to create and strengthen links between North American and Australasian fandom by a TAFF-like exchange of elected delegates 

  GUFF

GUFF was created as The Get Up-and-over Fan Fund in 1978, to complete the triangle whose existing sides were TAFF (the TransAtlantic Fan Fund, which sends sf fans between Europe and North America) and DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund, running between North America and Australia). Of necessity, the name changes to Going Under Fan Fund for southbound trips.

  FFANZ

'The Fan Fund of Australia and New Zealand was established in 1982 to
encourage closer ties between fans in Australia and New Zealand.

  NAFF

And there's a NAFF, too. It moves fans within Australia to the Australian National Convention..

  TAFF

From the TAFF ballot form:  The Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund was created in 1953 for the purpose of providing funds to bring well-known and popular [science fiction] fans familiar to those on both sides of the ocean across the Atlantic. Since that time, TAFF has regularly brought North American fans to European conventions and European fans to North American conventions. TAFF exists solely through the support of fandom. The candidates are voted on by interested fans all over the world, and each vote is accompanied by a donation [...]  These votes, and the continued generosity of fandom, are what make TAFF possible. 

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Disclaimer: Aussiecon® 4 is convened under the auspices of the Victorian Science Fiction Conventions Inc (ABN 90 257 542 181) and as such, is governed by its rules and regulations. Victorian Science Fiction Conventions Inc. is a not for profit association incorporated under the Victorian Associations Act, 1981. Aussiecon 4 is supported by the Melbourne Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Melbourne [ www.melbourne.vic.gov.au] . "World Science Fiction Society", "WSFS", "World Science Fiction Convention", "Worldcon", "NASFiC", "Hugo Award", and the distinctive design of the Hugo Award Rocket are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.