Presenter profile: Vivian Schenker

Fri, 18 December 2020

Inclusive Agenda was the final program in the suite of disability-focused programming to hit the 2RPH airwaves this year. Here, presenter Vivian Schenker shares a little more of what to expect in the program.

What is Inclusive Agenda?

A 30-minute monthly program which offers a platform for decision-makers, researchers and innovators to discuss initiatives that affect people with a disability, the elderly and the marginalised. It will provide interviews with key personnel as well as interesting and informative panel discussions airing differing views or complementary views on a key issue or policy.

How did you come to be doing the program?

I’d been reading at the station for about a year, when Sancha asked me if I’d be interested in presenting a new program she had in mind for the station. She knew I had a background in current affairs tv and radio and thought I’d be a good match. I tried explaining that I knew nothing about recording or editing and that the abc told me early in my career that if technical ability had been a prerequisite for my job, I’d never have been hired. But Sancha is very persuasive, and here I am!

What can listeners expect to hear each episode? And in particular, the first episode?

I’m trying my best to line up an interesting array of high- flyers who make policy or influence policy around a wide range of issues that affect older Australians and people with a disability. Our first guest is Robert Fitzgerald , NSW Ageing and Disability Commissioner. I think he has some really interesting and quite moving stories about some of the issues they e been asked to investigate in their first year, and some keen insights into what kind of policy changes he thinks might make a difference.

What have you enjoyed about producing this program so far?

I’ve been retired for a few years now, and I’d forgotten the enjoyment I used to get from sitting behind a microphone and talking to someone with something important to say. It’s a thrill and a challenge to get people to feel comfortable enough to forget the equipment and open up.

What have you enjoyed about RPH so far?

I like the people I work with each week ( that’s you Colin Grayson and you Jo van Kool), I enjoy being back in a studio and I like the fact that with Features Forum I get to read a range of material I might otherwise overlook.

Tune in to Inclusive Agenda on Sundays at 1.30pm (ADST) fortnightly. 

[Image: Inclusive Agenda presenter Vivian Schenker standing next to NSW Ageing and Disability Commissioner, Robert Fitzgerald.]