Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
19
Part Two:
Australian
Hearing
in the
community
Queensland Fire and Rescue Service mascot,
Blaze, dropped in to chat with Jo Wenzel and
Kate Morton from Australian Hearing Ipswich
during the Rosewood Show.
The Australian Hearing stand at the 2009
General Practitioners’ Conference and
Exhibition event, held at Homebush Bay,
Sydney, in May.
Bernadette Marchesi, Business Assistant
NSW/Vic and Barbara Rennie, Customer
Service Officer Box Hill, at the Glen Waverley
Positive Ageing Expo held 1 October 2008 for
Seniors Week.

20 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
21
Danielle Richardson, 16
Paediatric client, Australian Hearing Southport
Danielle, 16 years,
is a full-time ballet
student. Her goal
is to make it into
the Royal Ballet in
London. She shares
with us her passion
for dance and how
she manages her
hearing loss.
‘I have been dancing since I
was five. I started to love it
and I really wanted to keep on
doing it. Most of my friends
backed out but I kept going.
I want to get into the Royal
Ballet, which is the hardest
to get into – that’s my goal.
It’s in London. I’m going to
try out in a couple of years.
‘I dance about 40 hours a week.
I go to school once a week on
Monday and I bring my school
work to the studio. All the
girls here do that. Some do
school by correspondence.
‘My mum first realised I had
a hearing loss when I was
three. When I was a baby, I’d
sleep through anything – the
vacuum cleaner, music. I have
hearing loss in both ears. I wear
in-the-ear aids so that I can
dance and they won’t fall out.
I was going to get the ones
that go completely in the ear,
but my ear canal is too small.
‘My friends talk to me the
same as any other person. I
can lip read. One time I had on
an FM [frequency modulation
system] and one of my teachers
was wearing it and he went
to the phone and I could hear
everything he was saying and
everything the other lady was
saying. Kids would come up
and be like, “What’s behind
your ear?” Mum would come
to school and get the teacher
to talk about FMs and hearing
aids and let them have a go of
it. I used to feel special, because
I was like, “I’ve got this…” and
my friends were like, “Ooh,
I want hearing aids now!”
‘We tried using FMs here [at the
dance school]. The teacher wore
it down too low and all I could
hear was her walking. I was
like, “Just switch it off.” I’m fine
with hearing the music. When
I have trouble, I just ask them
to turn it up and then I’m fine.
‘I have been going to the
same centre [Southport]
the whole time. Lynda is my
audiologist. The staff at the
centre have been great.
‘Dancing is what I’m focused
on, it’s my biggest passion.
My favourite dancer is Darcey
Bussell. She’s in the Royal Ballet
and she’s got really good feet.
I was part-time last year – 30
hours per week. Now I am fulltime
with two others. This is
one of the best schools on the
coast. I’ve gotten this far and I
am going to keep on going.’
“Dancing is what I’m focused
on, it’s my biggest passion.
My favourite dancer is Darcey
Bussell. She’s in the Royal Ballet
and she’s got really good feet.”

22 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009
Our Community
Service Obligation
program
We receive fixed funding annually
to deliver services designated as
Community Service Obligation (CSO)
under a Memorandum of Understanding
with the Department of Health and
Ageing’s Office of Hearing Services
(OHS). Approximately 25 per cent of
our core business is designated as CSO.
Services for babies,
children and young
people up to 21
In the 2008 calendar year, we
fitted 1,852 children with their
first hearing aids. There were
201 babies (10.9 per cent)
fitted who were born in 2008,
the largest proportion of new
fittings by birth year, reflecting
the impact of newborn hearing
screenings around the country.
During 2008/09, we provided
56,358 services and 14,605
hearing devices, including hearing
aids and FM systems, to children
and young people under 21.
This represents a small increase
(0.4 per cent) in the number of
services provided and a six per
cent reduction in the number of
devices fitted since 2007/08. The
main reason for this change was
an 18.5 per cent reduction in
the number of FM devices fitted,
as a consequence of the FM
upgrade program completion.
At 30 June 2009, we had 14,887
children with hearing aids and
cochlear implants – an increase
of six per cent compared to June
2008. More than 1,600 children
are cochlear implant users.
This year, we conducted a survey
of parents whose children were
aged less than 12 years, to
investigate children’s hearing aid
use and satisfaction with their aid
and our service provision. Results
were pleasing, with 93 per cent of
the 2,705 respondents indicating
they were satisfied or very satisfied
with overall service provision. A
further 89 per cent of respondents
were satisfied or very satisfied
with their child’s hearing aids.
A new clinical equipment contract
enabled us to improve the ease of
Otoacoustic emission (OAE) testing
for children via the introduction
of portable OAE screeners.
Otoacoustic emission testing
confirms both the existence of a
hearing loss and helps determine
which part of the hearing pathway
has been affected. These tests
form an important part of the
hearing assessment series of tests.
FM technology
FM systems provide hearing
aid users with improved ability
to hear a teacher or parent
over distance or in noisy or
reverberant conditions. This
occurs by transmitting the signal
from the microphone wearer
directly into a receiver worn with
hearing aids just like a personal
one-to-one radio station.
This year, we conducted a survey of parents whose children
were aged less than 12 years, to investigate children’s hearing
aid use and satisfaction with their aid and our service provision.
Results were pleasing, with 93 per cent of the 2,705 respondents
indicating they were satisfied or very satisfied with overall
service provision. A further 89 per cent of respondents were
satisfied or very satisfied with their child’s hearing aids.

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
23
We updated our FM range in
March 2009 as the result of a new
supply contract for FM systems.
The new range offers improved
ease of use and troubleshooting
for students, parents and teachers.
In 2008/09, we completed a
two-year program that enabled
children to upgrade from bodyworn
FM receiver technology to
more discreet and easy-to-manage
ear level technology. A total
of 1,655 ear level FM receivers
were fitted to aided children in
2008/09, which comprises both
upgrades and new fittings.
Hearing devices for
babies, children and
young people up to 21
We added two new hearing aids
to the fully subsidised paediatric
range, enhancing our ability to
meet the needs of children with
severe to profound hearing loss
and those who wish to use their
hearing aids with technology such
as mobile phones and computers.
We updated our paediatric
hearing aid fitting protocols in
light of research from NAL and
our hearing aid provider, Siemens,
which indicated that children
of all ages have the potential to
benefit from the use of directional
microphone technology. Prior to
this research finding, directional
microphones were traditionally
used with children of late
primary school age or older.
In addition to supporting repairs
and maintenance for cochlear
implant speech processors, we are
also funded to provide paediatric
cochlear implantees with upgraded
speech processor technology. This
year, we provided 269 children
with new cochlear implant speech
processors through our speech
processor upgrade program.
We fitted the majority of these
children with the Freedom for
Nucleus 22 speech processor,
which was released in 2008.
Clinical protocols for
Indigenous children
Hearing assessments conducted
in remote sites face a number of
limitations, as test environments
are not purpose-designed for
audiometric assessment. However,
while it has been possible to
obtain at least some results on
older children and adults under
these conditions, it was not
possible to assess children aged
less than three due to the lack of
an appropriate reward system.
In 2008/09, we completed a
field trial that involved using
a portable DVD player with
customised reward to perform
Visual Reinforcement Orientation
Audiometry for children aged
from seven months to three years.
We successfully conducted trials
at six remote sites in Central and
Western Australia. This technique
allows us to provide infants and
toddlers with a level of assessment
that is equivalent to that offered
to older clients. As a result, many
families will be spared the time
and expense of travelling to urban
or regional centres in order to
have their babies’ hearing tested.
Adults with
complex hearing
rehabilitation needs
Adults eligible under the Voucher
program who have a severe to
profound hearing loss or severe
communication impairment are
designated as CSO. We maintained
our reputation as being the leader
in assessment and rehabilitation
by continually reviewing our
clinical practice and products for
adults with complex needs.
During 2008/09, client numbers
grew by 2,123 and at 30 June
2009, we had 19,415 CSO
adult clients, an increase of
12.3 per cent from 2007/08.
Access to high levels
of technology
In 2008/09, we provided 1,484
more CSO hours for adults with
complex needs compared with
the same period last year (a five
per cent increase). The number of
devices fitted to adults with complex
needs increased by 1,865; 14.6
per cent higher than in 2007/08.
We continued to review the
level of technology provided
to adults with complex needs
and this year added the Phonak
Naida V to the range offered.
The Phonak Naida V hearing aid
offers ‘SoundRecover’, a feature

24 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009
Our Community Service Obligation
program (continued)
which aims to improve audibility of
high frequency speech sounds for
clients who are unable to detect
or use high frequency speech
information via a conventional
hearing aid. We are collecting
data on those clients who are
fitted with this technology to
evaluate the outcomes, but initial
indications have been positive for
those clients whose hearing loss
indicates a need for this feature.
We continued to upgrade other
clients to the mid-range technology
hearing aids, such as the Siemens
Cielo 2, as a minimum standard.
These aids have features such as
greater speech enhancement and
noise reduction and automatic
adaptive directional microphones.
Adults with complex needs
who have appropriate listening
goals were also fitted with
new FM systems, enabling
them to hear across greater
distances and cope better with
competing background noise.
Evaluation of service
delivery to provide the
best hearing care
In 2008, we surveyed adult clients
who have severe communication
impairment, as part of our
commitment to regularly evaluate
outcomes for CSO adult clients.
This survey was identical to that of
a previous survey in 2006 of adult
clients with severe and profound
hearing losses. Responses to
the 2008 survey indicated that
these clients report equally high
levels of service satisfaction as
those previously surveyed. They
also reported a greater degree
of perceived benefit from their
devices across all listening
situations, compared to the
previously surveyed adults who had
greater degrees of hearing loss.
As some of the clients surveyed
have additional physical or visual
disabilities which impact not only
on their communication, but also
on their ability to manage their
hearing aids, it is understandable
that aid management issues
were reported more frequently
than by the group with severe
and profound hearing losses.
We also collected and analysed
International Outcomes Inventory
– Hearing Aids data in this survey.
The clients surveyed in 2008, who
have lesser degrees of hearing
loss, reported using their devices
less than those with severe and
profound hearing losses in 2006.
The scores on the two surveys
were very similar in all other
measures. See Graph Two below.
Graph Two: International Outcomes Inventory – Hearing Aids (IOI-HA) – Mean Scores
Comparison with USA, CSO Adult 2006 (=>80dB) and CSO Adult 2008 (

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
25
May Howard, client
Australian Hearing Perth
Turning 105 on 1 July 2009,
and celebrating her birthday
with the local community and
close family, May Howard is
one of our oldest clients. May
grew up on the Beagle Bay
Mission, north of Broome,
run by the Catholic Church.
It was there that she met her
husband and raised her family.
Her son, Jimmy Howard, is a
country singer well known
around the Broome area.
Peter Howard, May’s second
son, runs his own tourist
business outside of Broome.
May has many grandchildren
and great grandchildren and
lives with her great niece Jo,
who is her carer. One of May’s
grandchildren, Selina, is also
a health worker at Broome
Aboriginal Medical Service.
May first noticed problems
hearing other people in the
May Howard with audiologist Sally Regan, at the Broome Aboriginal Medical Service.
1980s. She had particular
trouble hearing her family
and when shopping. May has
a severe to profound hearing
loss, but prefers to use one
aid. Since using her Cielo 2P
aid, she is able to better hear
and converse with her family.
We see May at the Broome
AHSPIA site, where we work
closely with the staff of Broome
Aboriginal Medical Service
to provide hearing services
in the local community.
L–R Jade Frederiksen (AHSPIA Audiologist), Nikkita Yunupingu,
Aileen Andrews and Maryanne Arrieta (Aboriginal Health Worker
/Community Audiometrist) from Darwin at Ngukurr Community
Education Centre, Roper River in the Northern Territory.
The girls are wearing their
new ‘Hearing Hats’ which are
fitted with bone conductor
hearing aids. AHSPIA
audiologists visiting remote
Indigenous communities issue
a large number of hearing
hats to assist children with
conductive hearing loss,
particularly to hear in class.
These students are supported
by the Special Education
teachers and classroom
teachers, who work in
conjunction with
our audiologists.

26 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
27
Visiting Docker River
Case Study
In the mid morning 35 degree
heat, audiologists Rebecca
Allnut and Alison King from
Australian Hearing and Renee
Garuccio from NT Hearing,
pushed open the door to the
Docker River Clinic in March
this year. The clinicians were
on one of three annual visits
to Docker River, an Indigenous
community of approximately
300 to 350 people. Docker
River is a two-and-a-half hour
trip by 4WD from the Olgas,
located a few kilometres from
the Western Australia border.
Docker River is a traditional
Indigenous community, and
for most people, English is
a third or fourth language.
This poses challenges for the
education of our paediatric
clients, primarily taught in
English, which are exacerbated
by hearing problems caused
by Otitis media (middle ear
infection). Known locally as
the ‘Ear Mob’, our staff bring
hearing health messages into
communities that are already
dealing with a number of
complex health issues.
Rebecca Allnut has visited
the Docker River community
for nine years. Our trips are
often done in collaboration
with NT Hearing. This ensures
a smooth transition between
the detection and diagnosis
of hearing loss by NT Hearing
and the provision of hearing
devices and follow-up services
by Australian Hearing.
During this visit, Rebecca
and Alison met with school
teachers to discuss results of
students’ hearing assessments
and hearing aid fittings. They
were also able to help the
teachers investigate classroom
amplification options and
funding sources, and provide
them with information about
the impact of hearing loss on
educational performance for
children who are learning in
a second language. Rebecca
and Alison also spent time
updating new clinic staff
about our services, and by
the end, had organised two
community education events
for May 2009 and a talk at
the local primary school.
Over her nine years, Rebecca
has met many people in several
different communities. Good
communication between
health workers, audiologists
and educators is essential in
ensuring that clients do not slip
through the net as they move
between communities. Rebecca
is now well known and our
clients are happy to talk to her,
as well as ask her for advice.
This trip was also used to
trial some new infant testing
equipment, which will allow us
to test babies’ hearing onsite
rather than flying them to
Alice Springs. Parents were
delighted with their babies’
responses to the hearing
test, setting the scene for a
positive discussion about the
importance of hearing.
Audiologists who visit remote
communities need to be
highly skilled in otoscopy. In
the course of the week, our
audiologists encountered
every possible variation on a
perforated ear drum, as well
as test results which didn’t
follow the typical patterns.
However, it was rewarding to
see the improvements resulting
from successful ear surgery or
a new hearing aid fitting.
The challenges of delivering
an audiology program in a
remote location are certainly
great, but the relationships
formed and the opportunity to
make a positive contribution to
the health of the community
are their own reward.
“The challenges of delivering an audiology program
in a remote location are certainly great, but the
relationships we form and the opportunity to make
a positive contribution to the health of the
community are their own reward.”

28 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009
Indigenous Services
working together
Many Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander peoples experience
hearing health problems typical
of third world communities. Up
to seven in 10 Indigenous adults
experience hearing loss.
The majority of Aboriginal babies
in remote communities will have
symptoms of ear disease by
the time they are three months
old. By the time an Indigenous
child reaches the age of 14,
they are likely to have spent 32
months with ear disease and
hearing loss. This compares with
an average of three months
for a non-Indigenous child.
Ear disease can affect speech and
language development, enjoyment
of school, forming of friendships,
educational achievement
and vocational choices.
Our Indigenous
Services program
Our Indigenous Services program
commenced more than 30 years
ago, when services entailed
visiting a small number of remote
communities in the Northern
Territory. Since then, outreach
services, funded under the CSO
program, have grown steadily to
include communities in all parts
of Australia. These communities
may be either geographically
or culturally remote from our
mainstream services. Over that
time we have strengthened
relationships with Indigenous
communities and broadened the
scope of our program. We are
committed to making hearing
services easier to access and to
providing hearing services in a
culturally appropriate environment.
This includes ensuring that
staff have an understanding
of the impact of historical and
cultural issues on the lives of
Indigenous Australians.
Outreach sites
Most often, we work in
partnership with Indigenous
community-controlled health
services to provide hearing
assessment and rehabilitation
services to Indigenous children
and eligible adults. We also deliver
services through mainstream
government health and education
services in Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander communities. In
2008/09, outreach audiologists
visited 238 sites in 55 urban, 69
rural and 114 remote areas (based
on the Department of Health and
Ageing’s Accessibility/Remoteness
Index of Australia). The number of
sites visited has grown significantly
over the last four years, and
stabilised this financial year at 238.
Table Two (below) shows the
number of sites visited through
the outreach program per financial
year over a five-year period.
Table Two: Indigenous
sites visited
Graph Three: Number of Indigenous Eligibility (IE)
clients seen July 2005 to June 2009
Financial
Year
2004/05 119
2005/06 130
2006/07 185
2007/08 232
2008/09 238
Number of
sites visited
NO. OF CLIENTS
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
IE >50yrs
IE CDEP *
INDIGENOUS ELIGIBILITY GROUP
IE Total
2005/06
2007/08
2006/07
2008/09
* Community Development Employment Project.

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
29
Services for
Indigenous adults
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
adults are eligible for free hearing
services if they are aged over
50 years or if they are a current
participant in a Community
Development Employment
Project (CDEP), or participated in
a CDEP in the period between
1 December 2005 and 30
June 2008. Collectively, these
groups are known as Indigenous
Eligibility (IE), and are funded
through the CSO program.
During 2008/09, we provided
hearing services to 1,947
adults aged over 50 and 579
adults participating in CDEP
at a permanent or visiting
site, or outreach site.
Graph Three on page 28 shows
the number of clients seen since
the change to eligibility was
introduced on 1 December 2005.
The number of clients seen has
increased steadily over this period.
We also saw a further 272
Indigenous adults in 2008/09
who met other eligibility criteria.
Services for
Indigenous children
We saw a total of 5,372
Indigenous children during
2008/09, in urban, rural and
remote mainstream and outreach
sites. This represents 18.7 per cent
of the total number of children and
young adults who received hearing
services in 2008/09. Most recent
census data (2006) estimates
that 2.5 per cent of Australians
identify as being Aboriginal, Torres
Strait Islander or both. In view of
the known prevalence of hearing
health problems in the Indigenous
community, we expected to
see an over-representation of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander children compared to
the non-Indigenous population.
Table Three (below) shows the
breakdown of Indigenous children
and young people fitted with
hearing aids by State and Territory
for the calendar year 2008.
Strengthening
partnerships with
communities and agencies
Our Indigenous Liaison Officers,
outreach audiologists and program
coordinators promote our services
and build and maintain relationships
with Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander communities and clients.
As a result, we provide hearing
services through Indigenous
community controlled health
services, community organisations,
and mainstream clinics and schools.
Interested communities identify their
hearing health needs, and hearing
services are negotiated based on
this. As part of this process, we are
documenting the outcome of these
discussions in service agreements,
which describe the framework and
responsibilities of the program.
A review of the program takes
place as required or annually.
We are working with Queensland
Health’s ‘Deadly Ears’ program,
the Australian Government
Intervention in the Northern
Territory and other state-funded
health services to ensure that
primary and tertiary hearing health
services complement each other.
We saw a total of 5,372
Indigenous children during
2008/09, in urban, rural
and remote mainstream
and outreach sites.
Table Three: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
fitted with hearing aids by State and Territory
NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas ACT NT TOTAL
98 33 552 164 66 1 3 384 1,301

30 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009
Indigenous services: working together (continued)
This year, we purchased a fully
equipped hearing bus from the
Wimmera Hearing Society. The first
outing of the rebranded Australian
Hearing bus was to the Yabun
Festival in Sydney on 26 January
2009. Since then, it has visited
Indigenous communities in the
Snowy Mountains, Moree and
the Riverina, and has been in
almost constant use throughout
Victoria and New South Wales.
Using new technology to
enhance access to services
This year, we conducted a project
piloting the use of technology
to deliver services to clients
in remote areas. This project
explored whether an audiologist
in a hearing centre could work
with a health worker in a remote
community to assess ears and
middle ear condition, test hearing
and fit and evaluate hearing
aids. Technology used included
remote control of PCs via NextG
connection and videoconferencing.
Remote services are an
enhancement to existing services.
An unexpected outcome has been
the degree to which clients relaxed
in this environment when local
health workers played an active
part in the appointment process.
The next stage is to explore how
this can be applied in selected
communities as part of our regular
outreach services. See page 48 for
the remote audiology trials case study.
Audit of services
The Department of Finance and
Deregulation’s Office of Evaluation
and Audit commenced an audit of
the Australian Hearing Specialist
Program for Indigenous Australians
(AHSPIA) during 2007/08. The
final report from the audit was
released in July 2009. It indicated
that while AHSPIA is achieving
its objective of providing a more
flexible model of service delivery to
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people, some improvements to
the program’s administration
could increase its effectiveness in
reducing the impact of hearing
loss. This will occur through our
prevention and rehabilitation
services. We will be implementing
the recommendations from
the audit during 2009/10.
Our staff: Building
knowledge and
strengthening networks
This year, we continued cultural
awareness training, which was
developed by our sister agency,
Centrelink. We also introduced
Working with Indigenous clients
training, which builds on cultural
awareness training by focusing
on Indigenous clients in the
Australian Hearing context.
In November 2008, we ran
our first Indigenous Employees
Networking Conference. The
conference was coordinated by
the Indigenous HR advisor. It
focused primarily on facilitating
the development of employment
strategies and supporting the
Indigenous employee network.
Fifteen Indigenous employees
attended the two-day conference.
The conference identified
the need for strategies to
better support our Indigenous
employees in the workplace. See
page 42 for more on our people.
Ros’ favourite sound:
The subtle sound of the tide coming in. In Darwin, the tide
moves so far and quickly, I can literally hear it coming in over
the rocky bottom from my balcony. It is so tranquil and brings
back beautiful memories of wonderful family holidays.
Roslyn Stewart, Indigenous Programs Manager, NT.

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
31
Client profile: Arthur Heywood
Australian Hearing Wynnum
‘I have been an Australian
Hearing client for about
15 years. I used to go to the
old Adelaide Street office
in Brisbane, but now I go to
the Wynnum centre. I always
enjoy my visits to Wynnum.
The staff there are wonderful.
My hearing aid works well;
it is automatically tuned to
my hearing loss. I can’t get by
without it. My dad was deaf,
although my mother thought
he had selective deafness.
‘My hearing started to go
when I was serving in the
Metropolitan Fire Brigade
in Brisbane when I was in
my fifties. It got increasingly
worse; however, I couldn’t
stay working as a fireman
with an aid [so I continued to
work without one]. I didn’t
get fitted for my hearing
aid until I retired in 1988.
‘Prior to being in the fire
service, I spent six years in the
Australian Regular Army. I was
in the Artillery Unit based in
Darwin and after World War
II, I was an Armourer in the
RAAF. I asked for a discharge
to join the army when the
Korean War started and I served
as a Platoon Sergeant in the
1st Battalion Royal Australian
Regiment in 1950. Six months
prior to joining the army, I
was a gold miner for alluvial
gold at Tennant Creek.
‘I have been married for
56 wonderful years and have
two children, Jeffrey and Julie,
and three grandchildren.
Jeffrey is my baby; he is 52.
My daughter lives just down
the road and my son now works
for the Queensland Fire and
Rescue Service, like his dad.
‘The worst fire I saw was at the
Camp Hill State School. It was
on one Saturday afternoon
and was the hottest fire I had
experienced in all my 32 years
in the service. For four years I
worked in rescue, saving people
from smashed cars, using the
Jaws of Life and other rescue
equipment. I have seen some
horrific sights, but it was the
most rewarding four years of
my time in the service, getting
those people out alive.
‘I have been a member of the
Masonic Order for 53 years and
I often give lectures or talks
there. My hearing aids help
me to do that. The Order has
existed since 1350 and its aim
is to help you become a better
man by treating mankind as
you would like to be treated.
It is not a secret society, but it
is a society with some secrets!
‘I have been around Australia
several times. For 25 years
my wife and I travelled as
nomads in a campervan, then
a caravan all over Australia.
We have both been to the
United States, Norfolk Island
and New Zealand. We went
to South Mole Island for our
honeymoon; we’ve been to
a lot of islands. I went to the
bush when I was quite young
and was a cattle drover in the
Northern Territory in 1948 until
road trains moved in. It used to
take three months to go from
Queensland to the Northern
Territory. I was born in the city
but I am a farm boy at heart.
‘It’s a lovely life in Queensland.
There are parrots in the front
yard, the sun is shining. I am
my wife’s carer. We get home
assistance from the Department
of Veterans’ Affairs. We both
love life and it’s even better
for me now that I can hear so
well. I love nature and native
animals. We have kept a record
of all our travels and have lots
of photos and lots
of memories.
We have
both
enjoyed
every bit
of it.’
“It’s a lovely life in
Queensland. There are
parrots in the front
yard, the sun is
shining.”

32 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009
Voucher services
keeping our clients connected
We provide Voucher services to eligible clients through
the Australian Government Hearing Service Program.
There are 207 private providers participating in the
program, which is administered by the OHS. Approximately
75 per cent of our core business is the Voucher market.
The latest hearing
aid technology
This year, we consolidated four levels
of technology in our product range
to meet the needs of clients. Our
hearing aids have become easier to
use, more cosmetically appealing
and are able to give the wearer
excellent sound quality even in noise.
Many of our hearing aids now work
with a range of remote controls.
The most sophisticated version is
the Siemens Tek remote control,
which allows volume adjustment,
switching between programs
and connection with Bluetooth
devices such as mobile phones,
TV and other audio equipment.
Smart technology, known
as e2e wireless, has become
available in many of our devices
and synchronises aid settings
for both ears to achieve the
best performance. The aid
functions of DataLearning and
DataLogging allow our clinicians
to monitor aid use and settings.
The latest features available in our
hearing aids include Sound Brilliance,
which improves listening to music,
and TruEar, which replicates the
natural directivity of the ear, so it is
easy to distinguish whether a sound
is coming from the front or the back.
Improved service delivery
As part of an ongoing quality
assurance program, the OHS
undertook a major onsite audit
of our Voucher clinical practice.
Auditors remained on site at
14 centres for up to two days,
observing administrative, clinical
and client service practices. The
final report from OHS commended
Australian Hearing on its ‘high
standard of sites, services and
commitment of staff (clinical,
administrative and technical)’.
During 2008/09, we implemented
a new position of Voucher
Clinical Assistant in many of our
centres. The Voucher Clinical
Assistant position was offered to
customer service staff members
who undertook further studies
and training to support clinicians
with their clinical load. The
Voucher Clinical Assistant spends
dedicated time with clients who
need more one-to-one instruction
with hearing aid management
and use. Clients enjoy the extra
benefits this role brings to our
service delivery. Comments from
clients such as ‘you get to see
two smiling faces instead of
just one’ have been common.
Voucher Clinical Assistants have
responded positively to the role
and clinicians report feeling well
supported. See page 46 for the case
study on our Voucher Clinical Assistants.
Sustained client
satisfaction
We conducted monthly surveys of
client satisfaction using the Hearing
Aid User Questionnaire (HAUQ).
Results continued to show high
levels of client satisfaction with
both service and products. Levels
of satisfaction with customer
service and clinical service remain
above 90 per cent, while overall
product satisfaction and satisfaction
with repairs is consistently at or
above 80 per cent. See Graph Four
opposite. The maintenance of high
levels of satisfaction over time
reflects the continued focus that
we place on customer service.
We also incorporated an
internationally recognised survey,
the International Outcomes
Inventory – Hearing Aids (IOI–HA)
in the monthly client satisfaction
survey package sent to all current
clients. At the end of June 2009,
the overall mean score was 4.04
out of a maximum score of five. In
comparison, the overall mean score
at the end of June 2008 was 4.03,
indicating that client satisfaction
has increased slightly over the past
12 months. See Graph Five opposite.
Our rate of complaints per month
per current client remained less
than 0.02 per cent throughout
2008/09. Complaints from our
clients to the OHS showed a
downward trend during the
year and remained significantly
below that for the industry. We
continue to analyse complaints and
implement improvement programs
to further decrease complaints
and enhance satisfaction levels.
See Graphs Six and Seven opposite.

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
33
Graph Four: 2008/09 Hearing Aid User Questionnaire results to June 2009
This graph depicts national results for each of the four satisfaction measures in surveys sent between
July 2008 and April 2009.
100
80
60
JUL 08
OCT 08
NOV 08
DEC 08
JAN 09
FEB 09
MAR 09
APR 09
% CLINICAL SERVICE SATISFACTION % CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
% REPAIR SERVICE SATISFACTION % PRODUCT SATISFACTION
Note: Figures are electronically derived by the date the survey was mailed out.
Graph Five: Results of the International Outcomes Inventory – Hearing Aids June 2009
This graph shows the mean scores attained nationally for each item on the IOI-HA. The responses are derived from
responses to surveys sent between July 2008 and March 2009 and represent the cumulative mean for that period.
A score of five represents the most favourable response while a score of one represents the least favourable response.
5
4
3.88
3.98 3.97
4.16 4.17 4.18
3.96
4.04
3
USAGE
BENEFIT
ACTIVITY
LIMITATIONS
SATISFACTION
PARTICIPATION
IMPACT
ON OTHERS
QUALITY
OF LIFE
OVERALL MEAN
MEAN ANSWER FRP *
IOI-HA MEAN TARGET
* Full reporting period
Graph Six: Rate of complaints per current client (%) 2008 v 2009
0.030
0.025
0.020
0.015
0.010
0.005
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
FIN 2008/2009 FIN 2007/2008
Graph Seven: Complaints to Office of Hearing Services July 08 to JUN 09
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
OTHER PROVIDERS AUSTRALIAN HEARING WHOLE INDUSTRY
Data represents complaints per Voucher redeemed.

34 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009
Multicultural Services
recognising cultural diversity
Australian Hearing recognises the
diversity of Australian society and
the need to provide accessible and
equitable services to culturally and
linguistically diverse (CALD) populations.
Of the age groups eligible for
hearing services under the
Australian Government Office
of Hearing Services Program, 15
per cent of people aged 0–24
years and 16.5 per cent of people
aged 65 years and over speak a
language other than English.
CALD take-up of services
exceeded targets
Our Corporate Plan goal was
to increase the take-up rate
of services by CALD clients by
two per cent. We exceeded this
target in 2008/09, with a 3.3 per
cent increase in CALD clients.
Australian Hearing multicultural
communication and service
delivery strategy
In 2008/09, we provided
new access pathways to
services for non-English
speaking Australians by:
• increasing the range of
translated materials to be
more responsive to the
requirements of CALD clients;
• providing guidelines to staff
on the use of accredited
interpreters and translators;
• developing multilingual
information for the Australian
Hearing website; and
• reviewing HR strategies in
order to increase recruitment
of hearing centre staff who
speak a second language.
We focused on the areas of
communication, responsiveness
and providing effective, resultsoriented
solutions to meet the
needs of clients from culturally
diverse backgrounds.
We continued to translate key
publications into 10 priority
languages. We also created
a suite of new resources in
response to the identified needs
of staff and clients. This work
will continue as we remain
sensitive to the changing
needs of a diverse society.
Australian Hearing
consults the CALD
community
We enhanced our CALD service
delivery strategy through focus
groups held with key community
stakeholders throughout
Australia. These were facilitated
by our Chairman, Kathyrn
Greiner AO. Consultation
with CALD communities
continues on a regular basis
at a local level throughout the
hearing centre network.
Jade’s favourite sound:
The familiar sounds of my home:
from my bedroom upstairs, I can
differentiate the members of my
family just by listening. The same
household sounds differ depending
on the person. For example, when
they’re in the kitchen, their footsteps,
the way they come in the front
door. A simple collection of sounds
can paint an entire person.
Jade Wong, Audiologist, Australian Hearing Box Hill.
Box Hill graduate audiologist, Jade Wong, at the Respite and
Aged Care Support Services Expo in May 2009.

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
35
One of the outcomes from
these stakeholder meetings was
the recommendation to use a
communication medium that
could be easily accessed by the
CALD community. Based on
this recommendation, we ran a
radio campaign in Greek, Italian,
Cantonese and Mandarin on
community radio during April
and May 2009. The objective
was to build awareness of
hearing health and promote
access to services via a free
telephone interpreting service.
Telscreen launched in
Cantonese and Mandarin
We launched the third version
of our telephone hearing test,
Telscreen, in Cantonese and
Mandarin on 20 March 2009 to
coincide with Harmony Day. This
service allows Cantonese and
Mandarin speakers access to a free
hearing test over the telephone
without having to leave their home.
We are developing further language
versions for Telscreen in 2009/10.
See page six for more on Telscreen TM .
Staff raised their
cultural competency
We conducted cultural awareness
training for all staff throughout
the Australian Hearing network
using an eLearning tool developed
by our sister agency, Centrelink.
Raising cultural competency
standards continues to be a focus
for our Multicultural Services and
participation in cultural festivals,
for example, Chinese New Year
and Harmony Day celebrations,
has been successful in building
understanding and respect
between Australian Hearing and
non-English speaking communities.
Reporting practices
improved
We have improved reporting
mechanisms to ensure
accountability for the
implementation of the service
delivery imperatives and to assist
in guiding our organisation
to consistently exceed best
practice expectations.
Ethno-specific events
and activities
Our centre staff attended many
ethno-specific events during the
year to promote our services. For
example, there is a significant
Chinese population in Box Hill,
Victoria. To cater for the needs of
this population, staff from our Box
Hill centre attended the Respite
and Aged Care Support Services
Expo and the Chinese Seniors’
Speak up Forum at the Box Hill
Town Hall. Both events were held
in May 2009 and our staff engaged
the community by providing
Chinese-specific information and
Australian Hearing show bags.
Through these interactions, staff
booked further community talks
and screenings at local senior
citizens groups. These events also
allowed for great networking
opportunities with other providers
such as Centrelink, Uniting
Care and the Commonwealth
Carer Respite Centre.
All Australian Hearing centres wished
the Chinese community a Happy New
Year on 26 January 2009.

36 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009
Australian Hearing network
As at 30 June 2009, Australian Hearing consisted of
106 permanent centres including one permanent
paediatric centre, 298 OHS visiting and remote sites
and 238 Indigenous outreach sites across Australia.
Area Managers now lead two to three centres with
support from Clinical Leaders, Business Assistants
and Regional Technical Coordinators.
During 2008/09, we implemented a range of service
improvements, shown in the summary of highlights
by region below.
Region Where In 2008/09
1. Tropics/Brisbane This region covers an
area from Brisbane,
north to Cairns and
west to Mount Isa
and the Northern
Territory border.
• We expanded this region by opening two new centres
at Beenleigh and Caboolture. We also increased
the number of visiting sites by 10. As a result, we
increased the number of clients in this region.
• We relocated Rockhampton, Noosa and Townsville
centres to attractive ground floor, shop front
premises with much better access for clients.
• We extended the North Queensland AHSPIA program to
remote Western Queensland and the Gulf communities
of Normanton, Doomadgee and Mornington Island.
2. NSW/Qld This region covers the
area from Newcastle,
north along the coast
and New England
Tableland and into
Southern Queensland.
• We improved client access by opening new centres
at Clayfield (Brisbane), Toronto (Newcastle) and
Robina (Gold Coast) and 12 new visiting sites.
• We provided outreach services for rural Indigenous
communities using the Australian Hearing bus
in Moree and Tamworth and increased access
to our services through our presence at the
Cudgen Indigenous football carnival.
• We increased our audiometrist workforce (two
clinicians attained their Certificate IV and four
enrolled during the year) and held our first regional
workshop for audiometrists to expand their skill
base and foster links within the region.
• We established links with Greek, Chinese and Italian
communities in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Newcastle.

Part Two: Australian Hearing in the community
37
Region Where In 2008/09
3. NSW/Vic This region covers
most of metropolitan
Sydney and the
Central Coast of
NSW. In Victoria,
the region covers
part of metropolitan
Melbourne and
Northern Regional
Victoria.
• We opened three new centres at Bankstown, Caulfield
and Woy Woy. We also refurbished our Toukley centre.
• We opened new visiting sites at Templestowe and
Ashburton in Victoria, and Burwood in NSW.
• We significantly increased our CALD promotions across
the region, holding more than 45 successful CALD
stakeholder events in both Melbourne and Sydney.
• We increased clients from a CALD
background by four per cent.
• We increased our clinical workforce by 20 per cent.
4. NSW/Tas This region covers
all of Tasmania,
Southern NSW and
southern Sydney, and
the Blue Mountains.
• We opened Campbelltown centre for business. This
improved access to services in the south west of Sydney.
• We re-established our Burnie centre as
an OHS permanent hearing centre after
successfully recruiting clinical staff.
• We used the Australian Hearing bus to increase
access to our services in Indigenous communities
around Wagga Wagga and promoted it at
AgFest in Tasmania with great success.
5. Vic/SA/NT This region covers
Western Victoria,
South Australia and
the Northern Territory.
• We opened new centres in Woodville, South
Australia and Sunshine, Victoria.
• We relocated our Alice Springs centre
to a shop front location.
• We established new visiting sites at Port Adelaide,
Rostrevor, St Albans, Fawkner and Kilmore.
• We successfully trialled new technology to run
appointments remotely and improve access to
services in remote Indigenous communities.
• We promoted Australian Hearing services by holding
a movie night at Victor Harbour, South Australia,
which attracted over 100 local stakeholders.
6. Vic/WA This region covers
Eastern Victoria and
Western Australia.
• We relocated our Bunbury centre to new premises.
• Our staff and clients in the Marysville and Gippsland
areas were affected by the Black Saturday bushfires.
Staff pulled together to deliver special support services
to people impacted by the bushfires. See page 38 for more.
• We improved access to our services to Indigenous
clients in Western Australia, including piloting
new technology to help with service delivery.
• We participated in the Kalgoorlie Ear Health Conference,
focusing on improved services to Indigenous clients.
• We expanded services to Albany, Western Australia
clients with a significant increase in visits to the area.

38 Australian Hearing Annual report 2009
The Black Saturday Victorian
bushfires response
Case Study
Staff from Australian Hearing
thought they were going
to provide hearing services
for people devastated by
the Black Saturday Victorian
bushfires in February 2009.
As it turns out, a listening ear
was far more important.
When we put out the call
for volunteers to provide
hearing care to the survivors
of the Black Saturday Victorian
bushfires, it was met with
overwhelming support.
Staff from our Croydon,
Knox, Dandenong, Morwell,
Shepparton, Reservoir,
Pakenham, Cheltenham,
Moonee Ponds, Melbourne
and Box Hill centres
responded to the call.
General Manager of NSW/
Tas region, Paul Cameron,
coordinated a relief team
with unanimous endorsement
from the Australian Hearing
Board. This was a collaborative
approach between Australian
Hearing, the OHS and hearing
aid manufacturers who donated
hearing devices. We provided
free clinical and maintenance
assistance for individuals
in the affected areas,
regardless of whether or
not they were a client. The
Australian Hearing bus was
promptly made available and
travelled to various locations
such as Diamond Creek,
Kinglake and Whittlesea.
Senator the Hon Joe Ludwig, former Minister for Human Services, hosted an informal
breakfast in Melbourne with cross-agency staff as an expression of gratitude for their
assistance with the Victorian bushfire effort.
Nella Gallo, Area Manager,
Australian Hearing Dandenong,
gives an account of her
day in Whittlesea.
‘Like many others, I was keen
to go out and lend support to
the bushfire survivors. I had
been following the media
reports, but that didn’t prepare
me for the emotional toll of
the day. While we conducted
testing, fitted devices and took
impressions, the real challenge
was to let each individual
relate their story (often with
tears or with pauses while they
fought back tears) before we
could provide our service.
‘I find that their stories replay
in my mind. One lady had
severe ear pain and attended
for otoscopy. She was so stiff
she couldn’t walk properly.
She and her husband had only
settled on their property in the
Kinglake area five days before
the fire hit and destroyed it
all. The day before we saw
her, she had found out that
her husband had lost his job.
You could see her whole body
tense as she told how her life
had been devastated over the
week. Her ears were clear and I
tried to explain about deferred
pain and suggested she seek
medical support. I think the
most valuable thing I had to
offer was to genuinely listen.
‘I found the day to be a very
humbling and worthwhile
experience. The hugs and
tears shared with the survivors
let me know our service was
very much appreciated.’
In response to growing concern
from staff, Australian Hearing
held a nationwide fundraising
event for the Red Cross
Bushfire Appeal and matched
all money donated by staff. A
total of $6,398.50 was raised.