Hearing health to be discussed in Sydney

THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport will hold its first public hearing for the Inquiry into the Hearing Health and Wellbeing of Australia in Sydney on Tuesday, 15 November.

The hearing will focus on the treatment options for deaf and hearing impaired children. The Committee will meet with the Shepherd Centre, an organisation that provides intensive listening and speaking training to children fitted with hearing devices. Over 90% of the Shepherd Centre’s graduates enter mainstream schooling, the majority with communication skills on par with their hearing peers.

The Committee will also meet with Cochlear, the developer and manufacturer of one of the world’s leading implantable hearing devices, and with audiologists from the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network.

The Committee Chair, Mr Trent Zimmerman MP, stated ‘detecting and treating hearing impairment from an early age is vital to enable children to fully develop their listening and speaking skills. The Committee will be investigating the options available to the families of  deaf and hearing impaired kids and how Government can ensure that all children have the opportunity to receive the best treatment available’.

Further information about the Committee’s inquiry, including the program for the public hearing are available on the Committee’s website.

ends