Hearing loss still a challenge for kids

In the last 20 years, we’ve made dramatic advances in the early detection of hearing loss in newborn babies and in providing early access to hearing aids and cochlear implants.

For example, since 2012 in Victoria, the median age at which hearing loss is detected in newborns is measured in just weeks; this compared to a median 20 months of age back in 1989.

And in 2018, more than 2,800 Australian children were fitted with either a hearing aid or cochlear implant for the first time, many within the first year of life, and the majority prior to starting school.