Address to the Australian College of Audiology Nat

Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to address the Australian College of Audiology National Congress this morning. In doing so, I’d like to begin by acknowledging Mr Ian Mawby, the chairperson of this congress, and Mr Tom Shepherd, the President of the Australian College of Audiology.

There are now 1,027 qualified practitioners providing services under the Australian Government Hearing Services Program, and another 288 practitioners currently completing their training. I know that many of you here today provide services under the Program.

Some hearing device manufacturers estimate that fittings made under the Program account for about 70 per cent of hearing aid fittings in Australian each year.

Information collected by the Department confirms that, in general, service providers contacted under the Program provide a very effective level of service, resulting in very good outcomes for the majority of clients.

In 2006 the Department of Health and Ageing completed a review of the professional qualification requirements for hearing health professionals which, among other things, covered regulatory roles and responsibilities of the professional associations and the Program.

The introduction of changes to the Program following this review acknowledged the level of professionalism in the industry and the importance of the role of its professional associations.

This is shown by the introduction over the past year of less prescriptive, more outcome-focused standards, to replace the Clinical Standards - recognition of the competence and professionalism of practitioners under the Program.

Another example is the recent amendment of the legislated Hearing Service Rules of Conduct 2005, which govern the Program. The amendment changed the way practitioners are supervised as they carry out their training - a further reduction in regulation by the Department, in favour of advice and monitoring by the professional associations.

These examples are good indicators of the way the Government sees itself moving forward with the industry – continued consultation and cooperation to improve the Program, with the primary focus on better outcomes for clients.

Increasingly, the Government is concerned with minimising the impact of government regulation on businesses. In the context of the hearing services industry, this will mean an increased expectation that professional bodies will step up to the mark with ideas and leadership across all hearing health spheres.

The beginnings of this are already evident with the Accreditation Working Group of the Hearing Services Consultative Committee leading the way on issues relating to possible future accreditation of businesses - something that will have flow-on effects for the entire hearing health industry, not just the Government’s Hearing Services Program.

Hopefully, industry leadership by the professional bodies will be further demonstrated through work with the Department to implement the new Budget measures.

There were four key Budget measures announced in the 2007 Budget. The Government has allocated $70.7 million over four years to improve the Program through:

•  provision of support for new clients to access rehabilitation services that will help them cope with their hearing loss and learn to use their devices more effectively ($28.4 million over four years, commencing 1 July 2008);

•  additional funding to enable Australian Hearing to meet the hearing needs of special needs clients under the CSO Program. These clients include children, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and adults with complex hearing needs ($30.1 million over four years, commencing 1 July 2007);

•  funding for research to inform prevention activities, including intervention strategies for the young and for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander populations, as well as those in the workplace. This represents an exciting new direction and role for the Government in hearing health ($9.6 million, commencing 1 October 2008); and

•  implementation of a change in the clinical pathway for new clients entering the Program. From 1 July 2009, service providers will be able to conduct initial hearing assessments before clients visit their GPs for medical clearance to obtain further services. The change will better integrate hearing within the broader medical and allied health framework.

The new clinical pathway represents a major change to the Program and should result in better patient outcomes through:

•  facilitating better, more-informed decision making by GPs;

•  providing quicker referral for specialist advice if needed; and

•  enabling a client’s hearing loss to be considered in the context of their overall health issues, in conjunction with their GP and other relevant health professionals.
In December 2006, the Australian Government provided funding of $32.55 million over seven years for the HEARing Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) to continue to focus on strategic initiatives aimed at preventing hearing loss and improving communication through enhanced technology and clinical solutions. The investment built on earlier CRC funding of $14.45 million over the previous seven years. 

This funding demonstrates the Government’s recognition of the importance of hearing issues in Australian society.

Through work such as this, the rapid technological advances being seen in communication tools, such as feature-packed mobile phones, personal digital assistants and the seemingly endless capabilities of the Internet are now extending into hearing aids.

This has resulted in the development of smaller, lighter, more-compact devices with advanced features and stylish designs which, hopefully, will lead to greater acceptance of devices both by users and the general community.

In line with this, from 31 October clients and providers will, under the Australian Government Hearing Services Program, have access to an even greater variety of high-quality, free-to-client devices, following a mid-term review of the Department’s agreement with manufacturers.

This follows on from a major review of the hearing device specifications supported by the Government under the Program in 2005.

To implement all of the initiatives, the Department will be consulting widely on many issues and welcomes the views of individuals and their professional associations, along with those of GPs, consumer advocates and educational institutions.

Once again I thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this morning, I commend the work of the Australian College of Audiology and I wish you well for the rest of your conference.