Statewide Vision Resource Centre

What Statewide Vision Resource Centre does

Statewide Vision Resource Centre (SVRC) is a government service operated under the Victorian Department of Education and Training (Australia), established in 1983 and headquartered at 370 Springvale Road, Donvale, Victoria. SVRC provides specialist teaching, professional learning, transcription services, and assistive technology to support Victorian students from preschool to Year 12 who are blind or have low vision, serving more than 500 eligible students across government, Catholic, and independent schools statewide. Its core service portfolio comprises the Educational Vision Assessment Clinic (EVAC) run in partnership with the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital; braille, etext, 3D model, audio, and large print transcription services; the Vision Technology Library (over 2,000 items of specialized equipment lent to government schools); two flagship student programs (Support Skills Program for Years 4-10 and Dot Power for Preschool to Year 3); and proprietary teaching resources including Ozzie Dots (nearly 1,000 braille books for beginning braille readers).

SVRC operates as a non-commercial, government-funded service. All services—eligibility assessment, transcription, professional learning, equipment loans, and student programs—are provided at no cost to eligible students, families, or schools, with funding flowing through Victorian Department of Education and Training appropriations. The go-to-market motion is sales-led in the sense of direct service delivery: SVRC engages schools through visiting teachers, the Department's regional structure, and partnerships with the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria and other sector bodies. The organization distributes its content via its website (svrc.vic.edu.au), a monthly newsletter (The Bulletin), on-site and online professional learning events, and a YouTube channel. No revenue is generated from end users; SVRC has no commercial customers, no funding rounds, no external shareholders, and no subsidiaries.

Name

Statewide Vision Resource Centre

Legal name

Statewide Vision Resource Centre

Website

https://svrc.vic.edu.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Statewide Vision Resource Centre is a Victorian Department of Education service that provides specialist teaching, braille transcription, assistive technology lending, and student programs to more than 500 blind or low-vision students across government, Catholic, and independent schools in Victoria, Australia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Special Education Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Special Education (SPED), IEP & Accessibility/Assistive Technology (EDAJAMAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) & Format Conversion (Braille, Large Print, DAISY) (EDAKAIAH), AT for Reading, Writing & Learning (Literacy/Executive Function) Tools & Training (EDAKAIAC), Assistive Technology (AT) Evaluations & Needs Assessments (EDAKAIAA)

Keywords

• Vision impairment education
• Braille transcription services
• Assistive technology lending
• Educational vision assessment
• Special education teaching

Headquarters

HQ city

Donvale

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: SVRC is a service of the Victorian Department of Education and Training, providing state-wide leadership in blind and low vision education. All services are funded through government appropriations with no cost to eligible students or schools.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

SVRC provides specialist teaching, professional learning, transcription of educational materials into accessible formats (braille, etext, audio, large print), and assistive technology lending to support Victorian students from preschool to Year 12 who are blind or have low vision. Operating as a state-wide service of the Victorian Department of Education and Training, it assesses eligibility for services, runs student programs teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum, and loans specialised equipment through its Vision Technology Library.

Product overview

Statewide Vision Resource Centre (SVRC) is a service of the Victorian Department of Education and Training providing specialist teaching, professional learning, transcription services, and assistive technology to support Victorian students who are blind or have low vision. The core service portfolio consists of educational programs (Support Skills Program for Years 4-10 and Dot Power for preschool to Year 3 braille readers), a Vision Technology Library for equipment lending to government schools, Transcription Services for producing braille/etext/3D/ audio materials, and Technology Support Resources including tutorials and guides. SVRC also publishes The Bulletin as a monthly newsletter and maintains the Calendar of Student Programs. Together, these offerings form a comprehensive ecosystem addressing the Expanded Core Curriculum across the full spectrum of eligible students from preschool through Year 12.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Support Skills Program A specialised educational program for eligible students in Years 4 to 10 who are blind or have low vision, offering 4-8 days per year of timetabled individualised or small-group instruction focused around the Expanded Core Curriculum, covering areas such as assistive technology, braille, braille maths, careers, independent living skills, orientation and mobility, and social skills.
• Dot Power A day-long immersive teaching program for children from preschool to Year 3 whose primary reading medium is braille, designed to encourage students to get as much braille under their fingers as possible in one day through braille and voice output technology, real objects, peer tutoring, art, games, singing, and themed activities.
• Ozzie Dots A collection of resources developed by SVRC staff that supports the teaching and learning of contracted braille (Unified English Braille) for beginning braille readers, offering a systematic and flexible approach with nearly 1,000 braille books and supporting print materials across four progressive collections.
• Vision Technology Library A collection of over 2,000 specialised items of blindness and low vision technology (including braille displays, electronic magnifiers, screen-reading software, and iPads) that Victorian government schools can borrow to support their eligible students who are blind or have low vision, with support for maintenance and staff training provided by SVRC.
• Transcription Services A service that transcribes student learning materials into accessible formats including braille, electronic text (etext), 3D models, audio, and large print for eligible students across all school sectors in Victoria, produced and provided at no cost.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Royal Victorian Eye and Ear HospitalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSVRC runs the Education Vision Assessment Clinic (EVAC) in partnership with the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. Children assessed for eligibility are seen by an orthoptist and paediatric ophthalmologist at the hospital. The partnership enables comprehensive clinical assessment combined with educational recommendations.
• Guide Dogs VictoriacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGuide Dogs Victoria provides orientation and mobility training for eligible students in State schools, including in-school training, professional learning for school personnel, and environmental assessments of school grounds. SVRC coordinates referrals and works closely with their specialists.
• Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCECV has established a separate Visiting Teacher Service to provide consultation for Catholic school communities supporting students with sensory and physical impairments. The four dioceses (Melbourne, Ballarat, Sandhurst, Sale) are supported by CECV.
• NextSense (formerly RIDBC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNextSense is Australia's largest non-government provider of education, therapy and cochlear implant services for people with vision or hearing loss. They provide professional development through NextSense Institute and developed resources like dAp Dots referenced by SVRC.
• Vision AustraliaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVision Australia is a leading national provider of blindness and low vision services. They provide orientation and mobility services, employment assistance, and the Feelix Library for children. SVRC refers families and coordinates with Vision Australia for additional support services.
• Victorian Department of Education and TrainingcoreOthersSVRC is a service of the Victorian Department of Education and Training, providing state-wide leadership in blind and low vision education. The Department provides funding, policy guidance, and operates the Visiting Teacher Service that works with SVRC.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Perkins School for the Blind: Historic US institution providing direct education, professional development and AT resources for blind students and educators globally. Comparable as a larger, established player with overlapping curriculum, professional-learning and AT-provision activities.
• Lighthouse Guild: US non-profit combining vision-loss healthcare, education and AT services. Comparable as a broader-scope incumbent operating a portfolio that overlaps with several of SVRC's distinct service lines (AT, education, professional development).

Others

• HumanWare: Global manufacturer of braille displays, notetakers and AT used in education settings. Comparable as an ecosystem supplier whose products SVRC lends and supports through its Vision Technology Library.
• Guide Dogs Victoria: Provides orientation and mobility training, environmental assessments and in-school support for vision-impaired students in Victoria. Comparable as a co-delivery partner covering part of the Expanded Core Curriculum that SVRC does not directly deliver.

Direct peers

• Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI): US state-level resource centre and school serving blind and visually impaired students, providing statewide technical assistance, AT lending, transcription and professional development — the closest international structural analogue to SVRC.
• American Printing House for the Blind (APH): US non-profit producing accessible educational materials, braille textbooks and AT for blind students. Directly comparable given SVRC's braille transcription role and Ozzie Dots content-library mission.
• NextSense (formerly Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children): Australia's largest non-government provider of education, therapy and cochlear implant services for people with vision or hearing loss. Directly comparable given its specialist education programs for vision-impaired students and parallel professional-development offerings (e.g., NextSense Institute).
• Vision Australia: Australia's largest national provider of blindness and low vision services, offering orientation & mobility, employment support, the Feelix Library and family services. Direct peer given overlapping service portfolio with SVRC across the Victorian vision-impairment population.

Regional players

• VisAbility (Tasmania): Tasmanian specialist blindness and low vision services provider. Comparable as a state-level provider delivering AT support, learning resources and orientation services to students in another Australian jurisdiction.
• Royal Blind Society (Royal Institute for Blind / Blind Citizens WA): State-level blindness service provider analogous to SVRC but serving New South Wales. Comparable as a sibling state-based specialist education and resource service for blind and low-vision students.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SVRCAus/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/statewide-vision-resource-centre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Statewide Vision Resource Centre