What we’re doing about ear health

Programs

We fund programs to support Australians with hearing loss:

• The Hearing Services Program provides hearing services and devices, to eligible people to help manage their hearing loss and improve engagement with the community.
• Several policies and programs aim to prevent, treat and monitor ear disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• A number of initiatives based on priority actions identified by the Roadmap for Hearing Health to help improve the hearing health of Australians

Find a list of all our programs and initiatives related to ear health.

Resources

We fund and provide resources to help Australians understand and prevent ear disease and hearing loss:

• Care for Kids’ Ears helps people who care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children recognise and prevent ear disease.
• The Know Your Noise website provides a free online hearing test and advice on whether your lifestyle might be damaging your ears.
• The Sound Scouts app makes hearing checks for children easy. The test is like a fun game, so the children don’t know it’s a test. It provides an instant report and what to do next if there is a problem.
• The otitis media (middle ear infection) clinical care guidelines help health professionals manage ear conditions. 
• Our Research Strategy – Hearing Health sets out how our funding to NAL is managed.

Medicare and insurance benefits

We help reduce the cost of hearing services and products through:

• the Prostheses List, which outlines the products – such as cochlear implants – that private health insurers pay benefits for
• the Medicare Benefits Schedule, which allows health care providers to bulk bill part of the cost of hearing services.

Research

We fund research to improve hearing services and support in Australia.

• We are providing grants for research into developing and delivering improved hearing health support services.
• The Medical Research Future Fund funds research aimed at ending avoidable hearing loss in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
• The National Acoustic Laboratories do research to improve hearing health, understand ways to effectively promote hearing health, explore early intervention methods, and find effective new technologies.

Who we work with

We work with various stakeholders to help improve ear health and support people experiencing hearing loss, including:

• state and territory governments – manage hearing screening services
• Services Australia – delivers government payments and services
• National Disability Insurance Agency – manages the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which funds hearing supports for NDIS participants aged 26 and over who are not eligible for the Hearing Services Program
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs – provides veterans with hearing supports not already covered by the Hearing Services Program
• Therapeutic Goods Administration – assesses, monitors and regulates hearing medical devices supplied in Australia
• Hearing Australia and other hearing service providers – provide hearing checks, hearing aids and ongoing care to eligible program participants.