Hearing Australia


Hearing Australia is a statutory authority constituted under the Australian Hearing Services Act 1991, reporting to the Minister for Human Services, and is within the Department of Human Services portfolio. Hearing Australia is the largest Australian government-funded hearing aid dispensing company providing hearing care and technologies. One of their areas of interest is hearing testing and rehabilitation of children under the age of 26.
Its research division, the National Acoustic Laboratories, takes part in collaborative research for the Cooperative Research Centre for Cochlear Implant and Hearing Aid Innovation. Its research can be broadly divided into the areas of hearing assessment, hearing loss prevention, hearing rehabilitation devices, and hearing rehabilitation procedures.

History

Hearing Australia is the current incarnation of the Acoustic Research Laboratory that was set up in 1942. Its initial purpose was the investigation of noise on behalf of the Australian Military during World War II. After the war it helped those children whose hearing was affected by earlier rubella outbreaks.
The Commonwealth Department of Health took over the Laboratory and was renamed the Commonwealth Acoustic Laboratories, with the aim of providing hearing services for children and veterans. It was in 1973 renamed the National Acoustic Laboratories.
The Australian Hearing Services Act 1991 established it as Australian Hearing Services, a Commonwealth Government statutory authority. The name National Acoustics Laboratories was retained for its research division. When the Department of Human Services was formed in 2004, the agency now known as Australian Hearing was moved into its portfolio.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for hearing services from Hearing Australia, one must be an Australian resident or permanent resident, and meet one of the following categories: