Hearing Australia is a statutory authority constituted under the Australian Hearing Services Act 1991. Hearing Australia is the largest provider of government-funded hearing services in Australia. One of their areas of interest is hearing testing and rehabilitation of children under the age of 26.
 | |
| Formation | 1947; 77 years ago (1947)[1] |
|---|---|
| Type | Statutory authority |
| Services | Assisted hearing solutions |
| Methods | Hearing Australia centres |
Managing Director | Kim Terrell[2] |
Chief Operating Officer | Gina Mavrias[3] |
Chair of the Board of Directors | Elizabeth Crouch AM[4] |
Parent organization | Services Australia |
Revenue (2019 FY) | A$241 million[5] |
| Expenses (2019 FY) | A$226 million[6] |
| Website | https://hearing.com.au |
Formerly called | Australian Hearing[7] |
Its research division, the National Acoustic Laboratories, broadly focuses its research into the areas of hearing assessment, hearing loss prevention, hearing rehabilitation devices, and hearing rehabilitation procedures.
Hearing Australia is the current incarnation of the Acoustic Research Laboratory that was set up in 1942. Its initial purpose was the investigation of noise on behalf of the Australian Military during World War II. After the war it helped those children whose hearing was affected by earlier rubella outbreaks.
The Commonwealth Department of Health (now the Department of Health and Ageing) took over the Laboratory and was renamed the Commonwealth Acoustic Laboratories, with the aim of providing hearing services for children and veterans. It was in 1973 renamed the National Acoustic Laboratories.
The Australian Hearing Services Act 1991 established it as Australian Hearing Services, a Commonwealth Government statutory authority. The name National Acoustic Laboratories was retained for its research division. When the Department of Human Services was formed in 2004, the agency now known as Australian Hearing was moved into its portfolio.
To be eligible for subsidised hearing services from Hearing Australia, one must be an Australian resident or permanent resident, and meet one of the following categories:
Hearing Australia also provides private hearing services to anyone who does not fall into the above categories.