Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wakefield for bringing this very important motion to the House. I acknowledge that National Hearing Awareness Week is from 23 to 29 August. I say to the previous speaker that this motion is not about our blended public-private health system because the government is seeking to make it purely a private system and get out of providing services through Australian Hearing. Along with my colleagues and the mover of this motion, I am concerned about the impact that the privatisation of Australian Hearing could have on the quality of services and access to services. This is about ensuring that Australians with hearing loss can access services. The current status is that the government has deferred making a decision on the privatisation while it consults on how Australian Hearing will fit into the NDIS. More to the point, in last year's budget, the Treasurer stood up and announced a scoping study into the privatisation of Australian Hearing. He did so without talking to any of the people involved—the peak bodies or consumers. This was a unilateral decision that the Treasurer introduced in last year's budget.

Australian Hearing was established by the Chifley government in 1947. It was started to provide services to returning servicemen and women and children who had lost their hearing from rubella outbreaks, but since that time it has grown and now provides service to many, many young people and particularly children. I would like to share with the House the story of a young mother of twin boys who came to see me, Angela Lamb. Her two boys, Kai and Ryan, were born at 28 weeks, and Ryan had very significant hearing loss. Angela told me how it was all a blur at the start; there were numerous tests that had to be undertaken; luckily the costs of hearing aids, FMs and batteries were all covered for her by Australian Hearing. Angela also had access to early intervention services. Those early intervention services were coordinated through Australian Hearing and have made an enormous impact on Ryan's life. I met with Ryan and he could communicate really effectively with me, all because of the input from Australian Hearing. He has been able to attend a mainstream day-care centre, and he will be attending a mainstream school next year. He has been exposed to so many different things because of the way his hearing loss has been handled by Australian Hearing.

It is not only children who benefit from Australian Hearing. Australian Hearing is vitally important to Angela and to other parents with children who have lost hearing. I have also been contacted by a number of senior Australians who have used the services of Australian Hearing. They speak so highly of it and they rely on it to ensure that they get access to the quality hearing services they need to maintain a good level of hearing.

I would also like to share with the House that Australian Hearing provides 468 hearing centres throughout Australia, including many visiting centres in rural and regional centres where hearing health services might not otherwise be available. Services include hearing tests, fitting hearing devices and providing counselling and rehabilitation programs. Included in the 468 locations are 212 remote communities. It is hard to imagine who will service these communities if Australian Hearing is privatised, because we all know it is hard to get private health services in remote areas. Together with its research division, the National Acoustic Laboratories, Australian Hearing helps people with complex hearing health problems to participate fully in life by developing language skills, participating in education and enjoying the family and social activities that lead to a fulfilment of life. Australian Hearing has been a valuable service in our country for years. I support it, Labor supports it, and we want it here to stay.

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