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

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) it is Hearing Awareness Week from 24 August to 30 August 2014,

(ii) the theme for this year is ‗How Loud is Too Loud',

(iii) approximately 3.5 million Australians suffer from hearing loss or impairment, and

(iv) exposure to noise is a known cause of one-third of the cases of hearing loss;

(b) acknowledges that:

(i) hearing loss disproportionately affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and

(ii) ear disease and hearing impairment in Aboriginal children in Australia is one of the biggest barriers to educational success for these children; and

(c) calls on the Federal Government to make Aboriginal ear disease a national priority and recognise it as a chronic disease in the Closing the Gap Strategy.