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

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

that the week beginning 24 August 2008 is National Hearing Awareness Week, and the theme for 2008 is ‘one in six’, which highlights the fact that around 3.55 million Australians experience some form of hearing impairment,

(ii)

threats to the hearing of younger people, for whom the major cause of hearing loss is recreational activities, particularly the misuse of ear phones,

(iii)

the continuing risk to hearing in industrial workplaces, farming activities, and from the use of do-it-yourself electrical equipment in the home,

(iv)

measures emerging in Europe to address volume control of personal sound systems and to limit noise in public venues frequented by young people,

(v)

the need for more research to increase public knowledge and awareness of these issues, and

(vi)

the absence of legislation to better protect the hearing of young Australians; and

(b)

calls on the Government to further investigate the need for national legislation to address these important hearing issues.

Question agreed to.