Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I present the report of the Community Affairs References Committee Hear Us: Inquiry into Hearing Health in Australia, together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to the committee.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the report.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

It is with great pleasure that I present this report to the chamber. This has been a very important inquiry. We have learnt a lot, as anybody reading the committee’s report and looking at the submissions will note. We have travelled extensively around Australia to various states. We have heard from individuals, from organisations working with those with a hearing impairment and taken a lot of evidence. We have made a large number of recommendations because it is a vital issue and one that touches in some way every Australian. Currently, one in six Australians has a hearing impairment and that is predicted to rise to one in four Australians. Of course, it is not just those with a hearing impairment who are affected; it is their families and friends and the productivity of Australia. Hearing impairment costs us billions of dollars. As I said, it touches families, friends and employers, so it affects everybody. There are some key issues. I should say straightaway that there is a very strong acknowledgment of the programs that we already have in Australia, particularly by Australian Hearing Services and the fantastic work they do with those between birth and the age of 21. And there are other services for the over-65s who are very strongly supported.

Access to services for those between the ages of 21 and 65 was the biggest issue that was raised with us. Until the age of 21 people get very strong support and they get access to hearing aids and assessments. But, when they get to 21, that is it—there is no more support. Take for example students at university who are doing their courses and their hearing aids no longer work. Hearing aids can cost between $3,000 and $10,000. If you are a university student, you cannot find $3,000 to $10,000. We heard of personal accounts where people said that they had to drop out of university because they were not able to hear. So it has affected their education—and, of course, then it affects their ability to be employed. We also heard a lot of evidence of people retiring early because they felt excluded from the workforce. They were no longer able to cope in the workforce with a hearing impairment.

We have made a number of recommendations that deal with access to services. We have said that we believe that those over 21, for a start, should still be able to gain access to Hearing Services Australia on a means tested basis. Obviously if you are in a position where you can afford those services, it would be on a fee-for-service basis. But, if you cannot, we believe it should be means tested. We also believe that people should have access to services on a means tested basis—so the same sort of process that applies for access to the voucher system et cetera. Those over 21 should have access to these services on a means tested approach. There is no doubt in our minds that those between the ages of 21 and 65 are disadvantaged by not being able to get access to hearing services.

We have also made a number of recommendations around education, awareness and research. We need to, for a start, increase awareness of hearing impairment in Australia. We need to increase the awareness of employers. We need to increase access for people to gain support in the workforce. I know a lot of members will be aware that I am very strongly supportive of the need to address hearing in Aboriginal communities. Hearing in Aboriginal communities is a very significant issue. We spent a lot of time looking at the research in this area. In some communities, up to 40 per cent of people are affected by otitis media, which then affects their hearing. A four per cent level of this disease internationally is considered a pandemic and a serious health risk. In some communities, as I said, 40 per cent of people are affected by otitis media. Particularly if they are babies, they have reoccurring bouts of this and, by the time they get to school, their hearing has been significantly affected. That then alienates them from school. If you are going to school and English is not your first language and your hearing is impaired, you are in big trouble from the word go in terms of being able to access literacy and numeracy programs. That can increasingly alienate you from education.

We looked at the number of Aboriginal people with a hearing impairment who are in correctional institutions and the criminal justice system. We were presented with evidence from the Northern Territory, where there was a study done in, I think, 2007—but it might have been a bit earlier. That study showed that 90 per cent of Aboriginal people in the Darwin correctional centre had a hearing impairment—90 per cent. Other states actually do not know what number of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system have a hearing impairment. New South Wales said that it had done a study that indicated it was very high there too. So we have made a number of recommendations looking at access to hearing services and dealing with this issue in Aboriginal communities. It is absolutely fundamental.

One of the key points that was raised with us was that Hearing Services Australia can provide hearing aids to people up to the age of 21 and they can provide hearing aids to Aboriginal children but, unfortunately, hearings aids for Aboriginal children, particularly if you are in a remote community, get lost, get damaged and get grit in them because they are in sand and sometimes there is a bit of shame about wearing them. But what has been identified as extremely successful for Aboriginal children is sound fields and dealing with acoustics in the classroom. Unfortunately, under the legislation, Hearing Services Australia cannot provide those services. Even though it is cheaper and more effective to provide sound fields in classrooms, they are unable to fund that because of the legislation. So we have made recommendations that that be reviewed and that those services be provided to schools.

We found that there was no overall audit of the number of classrooms in the Northern Territory that have sound fields. I suppose one of the immediate results of this inquiry was that, coincidentally, on the day the inquiry was in Darwin and I was asking questions around sound fields, the education department announced that it was going to be undertaking an audit of the number of classrooms in the Northern Territory. I would say that that was an immediately good outcome from our inquiry.

We have made a large number of recommendations. We tried to trim them, but this issue is so important to this country, particularly when you consider the ageing population and that we are going to go from one in six to one in four Australians who have a hearing impairment. This affects people’s physical and mental health, their ability to participate in community, their employability and, basically, their life outcomes. It is absolutely essential that we build on the good work that we do in Australia. This report is not about what a bad job we do in Australia on hearing services and helping the hearing impaired; it is about building on the good work that we do. We cannot rest on our laurels.

We need to inject more resources into some key areas—in particular, into helping those people between the ages of 21 and 65. We need to enable them to access services. We need to train people. One of the recommendations is about ensuring people can get trained in audiology. There are also some perverse incentives in the system at the moment. Those over 65 can automatically get access to the voucher system. The government has introduced some measures around eligibility. But a lot of people feel that those over 65 who—after being told by, for example, their families that they think they have some hearing issues—go and get tested and get hearing aids then put those hearing aids in the drawer. At least a quarter of those end up getting put in the drawer. Those people are not getting the assistance that their hearing aids could provide them. So we need to provide more support to older people about accessing hearing services.

I know some of my colleagues want to talk about this. This was a unanimous report. I urge people to read it and I particularly urge government to take on board our recommendations. I thank the secretariat for all their support—they have been fantastic—and I thank my colleagues and all those marvellous organisations. (Time expired)