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

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government is committed to improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and we acknowledge the importance that good hearing has for social, education and health outcomes. Ensuring children are healthy and school ready is a core priority for this government. We recognise the importance of hearing in assisting children to be both ready to go to school and able to learn, to get the best outcome from their education experience. This is an important area for this government. To close the gap on Indigenous health outcomes this needs to be a priority across governments and requires bipartisanship. This is too important an issue to be developing policy on the run. We will continue to work with our colleagues in the states and territories and the opposition to progress action to improve ear health services for Indigenous Australians as a priority. Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to be healthy, including good hearing, is a key priority to improve short- and long-term outcomes for Indigenous children, families and communities. I indicate that we will not be supporting the motion.

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

Mr Deputy President, I seek leave to make a short statement.

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

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

I take from the minister's comments that the government will not be supporting this motion. I am extremely disappointed to hear that. As far as her comments about policy on the run are concerned, I am quite shocked that the Assistant Minister for Health would say that, given that since I started here, nine years ago, I have been talking about Aboriginal health and Aboriginal ear health. The Senate Community Affairs References Committee report Hear us: inquiry into hearing health in Australia, which has acclaim throughout the hearing community, was really clear. It contained a whole section on Aboriginal ear health. This has been on the agenda for a significant period of time. The government cannot claim that this is policy on the run.

Question agreed to.