Assistive hearing devices
Hearing Australia provides government-funded audiology services and hearing aids to Australian children and young people aged under 26 with permanent or long-term hearing loss. Since June 2019, Hearing Australia’s Hearing Assessment Program—Early Ears has also provided early identification and intervention services to Indigenous children aged 0–5 in rural areas.
In 2018, of the 25,381 children and young people who were fitted with a hearing aid or cochlear implant through Hearing Australia, 1 in 11 (9%) were Indigenous. In the Northern Territory, Indigenous children accounted for the majority (81%) of children newly fitted with an assistive hearing device. Non-Indigenous children are more likely to receive an assistive hearing device at a younger age compared with Indigenous children, although with targeted early diagnosis and intervention, the gap has started to decrease in recent years (Hearing Australia 2019).
Hearing health programs
A range of Australian and state government programs aimed at decreasing the prevalence of ear disease and hearing loss have been implemented over time. A variety of programs exists focusing on promotion, prevention and early treatment of ear disease and hearing loss, such as the Australian Government’s Care for Kids’ Ears campaign, neonatal hearing screening programs and outreach programs such as the Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment (NTRAI) Hearing Health Program (AIHW 2014).
Hearing health services in the Northern Territory
For the past decade the Australian Government has funded the Northern Territory Government to provide hearing health services to Indigenous children and young people aged under 21 in the Northern Territory. In 2018, 1,817 children and young people received at least 1 service through the NTRAI Hearing Health Program Among these:
- 3 in 5 (61%) were diagnosed with at least 1 ear condition. Among these children, the majority (68%) also experienced hearing loss
- younger children were more likely to have an ear condition, with 73% of children aged 0–2 and 61% of those aged 3–5 having at least 1 ear condition (AIHW 2019).
Nearly half (47%) of children who received an audiology service in 2018 had hearing loss. The most common type of hearing loss was conductive (28%), which is associated with chronic ear disease (AIHW 2019).
Children who received hearing health services through the NTRAI Hearing Health Program have had improvements in ear health and a reduction in hearing loss over time. Between 2012 and 2018:
- the percentage of children and young people with at least 1 ear disease decreased from 66% to 61%
- the percentage of children and young people with hearing loss decreased from 55% to 47%.
Children who received multiple services over time had a larger reduction in ear disease. For children and young people who received at least 2 services between July 2012 and December 2018, the proportion with at least 1 ear condition decreased by 22 percentage points between the first and last service (from 76% to 54%) (AIHW 2019).
For more information on Indigenous hearing health, see:
Visit Indigenous Australians for more on this topic.
References
ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2019a. Microdata: National Health Survey, 2017–18. ABS cat. no. 4324.055.00. Findings based on Detailed Microdata analysis. Canberra: ABS.
ABS 2019b. National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, 2018–19. ABS cat. no. 4715.0. Canberra: ABS.
AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2014. Ear disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Resource sheet no. 35 produced by the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2018. Australia's health 2018. Cat. no. AUS 221. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW 2019. Hearing health outreach services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Northern Territory: July 2012 to December 2018. Cat. no. IHW 213. Canberra: AIHW.
AIHW forthcoming 2020. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Performance Framework (HPF) report 2020. Canberra: AIHW.
Burns J & Thomson N 2013. Review of ear health and hearing among Indigenous Australians. Australian Indigenous Health Bulletin 13(4):1–22.
Hearing Australia 2019. Aided child demographics 2018. Sydney: Hearing Australia.
Jervis-Bardy J, Sanchez L & Carney A 2014. Otitis media in Indigenous Australian children: review of epidemiology and risk factors. The Journal of Laryngology & Otology S16–S27. doi:10.1017/S0022215113003083.
Kong K & Coates H 2009. Natural history, definitions, risk factors and burden of otitis media. Medical Journal of Australia 91(9):S39 doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2009.tb02925.x.
WHO (World Health Organization) 2004. Chronic suppurative otitis media: burden of illness and management options. Geneva: WHO.