Stralian Hearing Annual Report 2003â04 - Australian Hearing

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“Each team member has been a key contributor to our success.” EXECUTIVE Australian Hearing wishes to acknowledge Philip Kimbell, who left the organisation during the year, after a period of long service in a senior position at Australian Hearing. We wish to thank him for his contribution. AUSTRALIA DAY AWARDS During the year, individual achievement awards were awarded to staff members for their contribution to the goals and values of Australian Hearing, their individual performance and customer service. The recipients of this year’s awards were: HEIDI SILBERSTEIN Ms Silberstein was recognised for her role as the district manager of the Darwin hearing centre. She initiated many clinical and administrative improvements that helped build a stronger hearing centre. Her work was recognised both by her managers and the Australian Government’s Office of Hearing Services. MANDY TEMPLE Ms Temple has excelled as the district manager of both Morwell and Pakenham in Victoria. She has made vast improvements in both centres, and her tireless efforts have strengthened both centres’ contributions to the organisation. PATRICK WILLIAMSON Mr Williamson was recognised as the acting district manager of the Port Macquarie hearing centre in NSW, as well as manager of the customer support centre for the network. His outstanding commitment to the organisation and enthusiasm for excellent client service inspires his colleagues. Team Achievement awards went to the Albury hearing centre in NSW and the Pakenham hearing centre in Victoria for their contribution to the goals and values of Australian Hearing, overall team performance, customer service and successful delivery of specific team outcomes. SPECIAL MENTIONS We also wish to recognise Nina Quinn and Sharon Keane for their considerable contribution to Australian Hearing. NINA QUINN has performed exceptional work throughout her career with Australian Hearing. Under her management of a NSW region, many centres have considerably improved their performance. She has also chaired the committee that has managed our charity contributions. SHARON KEANE contributes greatly to the Australian Hearing community. Her work in the Australian Hearing Specialist Program for Indigenous Australians (AHSPIA) deserves particular commendation, and her support of Darwin and the far North Queensland hearing centres has been recognised. EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR Teresa Ching, a senior researcher at NAL, received the inaugural Australian Hearing Employee Achievement of the Year Award. The award is given on the basis of the exceptional contributions by a person who has gone beyond individual and corporate goals, for the greater good of the community. Reversing misconceptions Through her research, Dr Ching has reversed some commonly held misconceptions about hearing aids. She has demonstrated that hearing aids in the opposite ear help people with cochlear implants in daily life. Her research has illustrated how a hearing aid should be adjusted to best complement the cochlear implant. She has also devised a new method to measure the effectiveness and suitability of individuals’ hearing aids or cochlear implants. The method is based on two interview-based questionnaires to gather specific feedback from parents and teachers about the functionality of children’s hearing aids. They are called Parent’s Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) and Teacher’s Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (TEACH). Research results Dr Ching presented her research results in the combined use of hearing aids and cochlear implants in children and adults at the Bimodal Hearing Seminar in Tokyo, Japan, in February 2003, at which she was the sole presenter. She was the guest of honour and keynote speaker at the Triennial Swedish Combined Audiological conference in Stockholm in May 2003. Last year, she received first prize, sponsored by Medical Electronics Austria, for her poster presentation in Manchester on the use of hearing aids with cochlear implants. Her articles on fitting children with NAL-Non Linear1 (NAL-NL1) were rated among the best in audiology for the year by The Hearing Journal, published in the USA. Dr Ching’s background is in language and linguistics and she holds a PhD in linguistics from the University of London. “Going beyond individual and corporate goals for the greater good of the community.” 28 AUSTRALIAN HEARING ANNUAL REPORT 2003–04 OUR PEOPLE 29
Our clients “Grace has helped her grandfather to see his hearing loss and the wearing of hearing aids as normal.” FAMILY ACCEPTANCE Grace Young and her grandfather John Kenney both have a significant hearing loss, but Grace’s optimism has changed her grandfather’s life and helped him accept his condition too. An audiologist at Australian Hearing’s centre in Mt Gravatt, Queensland, diagnosed Grace with severeto-profound hearing loss in her left ear, and mild-tomoderate hearing loss in her right when she was only two-years old. “My initial reaction was shock,” says her mother Catherine. “I think I cried for three days.” Progressing well Now Catherine has come to terms with Grace’s hearing loss. With the aid of her teachers and speech pathologists at Yeerongpilly special education unit, Grace is progressing well. She wears her hearing aids comfortably all day and is proud of them. Each time she needs a new earmould she chooses a different colour. Grace’s grandfather, however, took many years to accept his hearing loss. Although he missed the odd word in a conversation at social functions, John did not think he needed a hearing aid and he was put off by his mother’s experience. “My mother wore bulky metal hearing aids that caused her inconvenience and embarrassment,” he says. At 68, John’s hearing loss was getting worse and he made an appointment with a private hearing service provider for a hearing test. The consultant fitted him with two hearing aids but, to his dismay, outside noises were intolerable. New hearing aid Then his daughter Catherine suggested he go to Australian Hearing. He was fitted with a new hearing aid with different characteristics and controls. “I now use my aids most of the time and the results have been fantastic,” says John. “They are exactly like my granddaughter’s except mine aren’t brightly coloured.” JACK AND THE MIRACLE Jack Crombie was born on Kenmore Park station in South Australia in 1934. Until the age of six, he was “doing walkabout” around the Pitjantjatjara Lands in South Australia. In 1994, Jack attended the Port Large Police Academy in South Australia, becoming well known for his expert tracking abilities in South Australia and New South Wales. He met his wife, Gwen, 11 years ago when he was stationed at Cooper Pedy. The couple now lives at Docker River Community south west of Alice Springs. Boxing and flying Jack first became aware of his hearing loss in 1996 while in the police force. He is unsure of what caused the hearing loss, but thinks that his time boxing, along with flying in noisy planes without hearing protection, may have been factors. He purchased two hearing aids privately in 1997, but they stopped working after a few years. In 2002, Jack went to Australian Hearing in Alice Springs because his hearing had become worse. His test results showed mild-to-severe sensorineural hearing loss in both ears. He needed hearing aids to hear at community meetings, and listen to the Catherine is delighted that shared hearing loss has deepened the relationship between John and Grace. “They were at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of acceptance of their hearing impairment,” she says. “I think Grace has helped Dad to see his loss and the wearing of hearing aids as normal.” television at a volume that would not “deafen the wife”. Amazing results Jack was fitted with behindthe ear hearing aids and was amazed at the result. Now he loves being able to follow “He loves being able to follow conversation and hear birds singing.” conversation and hear birds singing. Gwen reports that he wears them all the time, except when sleeping and showering. Jack visits the hearing centre in Alice Springs when they are in town, or at Docker River Community (which Australian Hearing visits three times a year). He describes Australian Hearing’s service as “really good—a miracle”. Jack and wife Gwen with his audiologist Rebecca McCulloch (left). 30 AUSTRALIAN HEARING ANNUAL REPORT 2003–04 OUR CLIENTS 31
Page 1 and 2: Australian Hearing Annual report 20
Page 3 and 4: Table of contents Australian Hearin
Page 5 and 6: Message from the Chairman Australia
Page 7 and 8: The year in review AUSTRALIAN HEARI
Page 9 and 10: OUR MISSION Australian Hearing prov
Page 11 and 12: and in Canberra and Newcastle) to c
Page 13 and 14: Corporate services Quality at work
Page 15 and 16: these include Hear & Now, Australia
Page 17: The support activity review aimed t
Page 21 and 22: • A study on Factors Affecting Sp
Page 23 and 24: Corporate Governance statement THE
Page 25 and 26: 42 AUSTRALIAN HEARING ANNUAL REPORT
Page 27 and 28: Statement of financial position AS
Page 29 and 30: Fair and deprival values for each c
Page 31 and 32: NOTE 2 ADOPTION OF AUSTRALIAN EQUIV
Page 33 and 34: NOTE 9 CURRENT ASSETS 9a RECEIVABLE
Page 35 and 36: NOTE 11 PROVISIONS AND PAYABLES CUR
Page 37 and 38: NOTE 20 FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS Float
Page 39 and 40: APPENDIX 2. BOARD ATTENDANCE Direct
Page 41 and 42: Note: permanent centres indicated b

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Stralian Hearing Annual Report 2003â04 - Australian Hearing