Greens announce national hearing plan
Media Release | Spokesperson Rachel Siewert
Monday 16th August 2010, 1:05pm
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The Australian Greens have announced a series of measures to improve Australia’s hearing health.
Senator Rachel Siewert, Greens Health spokesperson says hearing health needs to be addressed in this election campaign.
“One in six Australians suffers from some degree of hearing loss. This figure is expected to increase to one in four by 2050, driven largely by our ageing population,” Senator Siewert said.
“It’s an issue that touches the lives of most people in one way or another, and despite the high cost to the community, it is not ranked as a national health priority. Hearing loss is estimated to cost Australia $11.75 billion a year,” said Senator Siewert.
“The Greens are proposing a number of measures to improve hearing health around the country, starting with screening for all children on commencement of their first year of compulsory schooling and providing more funding support for early intervention measures for children.
“We believe it is important to extend eligibility for existing Australian Hearing services from 21 years to 25 years of age, but to also provide means tested hearing services for people in the 25 – 65 age groups who currently receive no assistance towards spiralling hearing health costs.
“The costs of hearing loss to individuals can be very high, particularly for those who fall outside the eligibility criteria for any Hearing Services program support.
“Costs include hearing aids at between $3,000 and $10,000 a pair and cochlear implant speech processors at between $8,000 and $12,000. Hearing aids and processors often have to be replaced every three to five years.
“Australians with hearing loss must live with the paradox that their disability is highly prevalent in our community, and yet suffers from little public awareness or understanding.
“The Greens will continue to call for reform in tackling these social determinants of health inequality,” concluded Senator Siewert.
The Greens Hearing Health Plan will:
- Extend eligibility for the Australian Government Hearing Services Voucher Program to include all Australians, subject to a means test.
- Extend eligibility for Australian Hearing from the age of 21 to the age of 25; subject to a means test, and ensure it is supported through the proposed National Disability Insurance Scheme.
- Provide an option to access Australian Hearing support on a fee-for-service basis until the age of 25 for former clients who do not meet the means test.
- Call on the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to extend its commitment for universal newborn hearing screening to include a hearing screening of all children on commencement of their first year of compulsory schooling.
- Prioritise hearing screenings and follow up for all Indigenous children from remote Indigenous communities on commencement of school.
- Increase funding for early intervention programs to enhance communication in infants and young children prior to school.
These programs are predominantly funded by the not for profit sector and generally receive inadequate funding from governments. Urgent Commonwealth funding is needed for early evidence-based language and communication intervention for all children with hearing impairment who require hearing aids or cochlear implants prior to starting school. An additional $5.45 million is needed from January to June 2011, and $11 million in 2011-12 to cover approximately 1,900 families across Australia, with the same amount needed recurrently, subject to numbers of children diagnosed.
- Enable Australian Hearing, under the Australian Hearing Services Act 1991, to supply and maintain sound field systems for classrooms in all new classrooms, and in all existing classrooms where there is a significant population of Indigenous children.
- Expand the national data set and register for neonatal hearing screening, currently under development, to include a national database which can: track children through neonatal hearing screening, diagnosis and intervention; record and report cognitive, linguistic, social and emotional development outcomes of children diagnosed at birth with a hearing loss; and be expanded in future years to track all children diagnosed with a hearing impairment later in life.
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