Hearing Australia is a

statutory authority A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...

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.'' 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.

History

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 Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

on behalf of the

Australian Military The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the war it helped those children whose hearing was affected by earlier

rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...

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 A Department of Human Services (DHS) or Ministry of Human Services (MHS) is a national or subnational umbrella agency which is responsible for providing public assistance programs to the population they serve. Various aspects or alternate names i ...

was formed in 2004, the agency now known as Australian Hearing was moved into its portfolio.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for subsidised hearing services from Hearing Australia, one must be an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n resident or permanent resident, and meet one of the following categories: * Anyone under the age of 26 (before 1 January 2012 eligibility was lost at 21) * Holders of Pensioner concession cards, or their dependants * Recipients of a sickness allowance from Centrelink, or their dependants *

Department of Veterans' Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...

Gold Repatriation Health Card holders, or their dependants *

White Repatriation Health Card holders where hearing loss is specified, or their dependants *

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

personnel *

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders () are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped ...

peoples aged 50 and over *

and

peoples participating in a Community Development Employment Project (CDEP). * Those requiring specialist hearing services through the Community Service Obligations (CSO) component of the Hearing Services Program. Hearing Australia also provides private hearing services to anyone who does not fall into the above categories.

References

External links

Hearing Australia

National Acoustic Laboratories
{{authority control Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia Medical and health organisations based in Australia Audiology organizations