Professional Documents
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Budget 2016-17
The Australian Government delivered its 20162017 Federal
Budget last night.
The Government will continue to
investigate the transfer of ownership of Australian Hearing,
and the investigation will be paid for by Australian Hearing.
Accessible transport
The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development
is developing a set of guidelines that address a 'whole-ofjourney' approach to accessible public transport planning and
delivery.
Budget 2016-17
The Commonwealth Treasurer, The Hon Scott Morrison MP delivered Australia's 20162017
Federal Budget last night.
A note in the budget papers reveals that the Government will continue to investigate the
transfer of ownership of Australian Hearing, and that the investigation will be paid for by
Australian Hearing.
Australian Hearing Services a strong and viable future
The Government will provide $2.2 million to consider the future ownership of
Australian Hearing Services to ensure it has a strong and viable future in the
context of a contestable National Disability Insurance Scheme market and
continues to provide high quality valued services to Australians with a hearing
loss.
The Government has not yet made a decision to transfer Australian Hearing into
non government ownership. People with a hearing loss who currently receive
(or are eligible to receive) Community Service Obligation services will continue
to receive those services.
The cost of this measure will be offset by a special dividend payment from
Australian Hearing in 2016 17.
Deafness Forum of Australia says: Dont let children fall through the gaps with
changes to the way hearing services will be delivered in Australia.
Hearing impaired and Deaf children and their families are among those most at risk from
plans to transfer the responsibility for delivering their services from the Australian
Government Hearing Services Program to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Under the NDIS there will be a choice of service provider for the first time. Personal choice
is a concept we would all support, however it is concerning in this instance because the
private market is untested in the delivery of services to children with hearing loss. The
introduction of contestability introduces significant risks that must be understood and
managed in terms of access, expertise, quality, standards and client outcomes.
The Government should create an expert panel, with proper representation of the people
who will be most affected by these changes to advise it on the risks and the ways to avoid
or minimise risks.
ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-03/disability-support-crackdown-to-help-fund-
ndis/7380828
Accessible transport
Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development is developing a set of guidelines
that address a 'whole-of-journey' approach to accessible public transport planning and
delivery.
The Department wants to hear from as many people as possible about their experiences in
relation to whole-of-journey planning for public transport, especially those with heightened
accessibility requirements.
Click here to access the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/N6WDDJ2
The survey will close Friday 13 May 2016.
There are so many kids across India who suffer from hearing loss issues. Former Australia
speedster wants this issue to be thrown out of the window and wishes that these kids lead
a normal life just like others.
Thus, Brett Lee decided to be the brand ambassador of Cochlear's global hearing
ambassador. He has named this campaign as the 'Sound of Cricket.'
"I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of this noble cause. I am here to raise awareness in
this country. If the kids across, who are suffering from hearing loss issue, are cured, then
not only cricket, but they can play any sport," Lee said at a press conference.
"This implant will bring a broad smile in those faces. Their confidence will also be high.
The psychological impact will also reduce with time. These kids can study in normal school
and not in the special schools."
When asked whether he knows any cricketer who has had to deal or dealing with such a
problem, Lee stated that he knew a kid named Austin, an Indian origin child born and
brought up in Australia, was suffering from this problem. When he played he had to put
one of his ears forward if he had to listen to anything as cricket is all about sound, eye and
hand co-ordination. This boy was helped by Cochlear. He got an implant and he was
perfectly fine after a certain period of time post his implant.
By Rajarshi Majumdar.
kids-suffering-hearing-disability-lead-normal-life-674230
We are
Australias leading
Hearing Augmentation
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Included in the Guides Occupational Health and Safety Chapter is a section on sound levels
that explains the hearing loss risks of loud music and what are the best-practice sound
management solutions to manage them.
The HEARing Cooperative Research Centre (HEARing CRC), through its HEARsmart project
that provides accessible information about the hearing-loss risks associated with loud-noise
exposure, was one of the organisations consulted by Music Victoria for sound management
section of this Chapter.
HEARsmart Manager Jane Sewell said With the growing number of young people
experiencing tinnitus and hearing loss, this really is an important area for us to work in,
Jane said.
Music Victoria is the independent, not-for-profit, non-government voice of the Victorian
contemporary music industry. Download the Best Practice Live Music Guidelines at
http://www.musicvictoria.com.au/assets/Documents/2013/BestPracticeLiveMusic_Guidelines.pdf
Music Victoria and HEARsmart will hold a forum on 9 June 2016 to help musicians, sound
engineers and live music venues find out ways they can have better hearing health and to
get some direct feedback about the issue. Go to:
http://www.musicvictoria.com.au/events/event/hearing-health-tips-for-musicians-industry-and-punters
The National Deafness Sector Summit in Sydney on Saturday is a conference for people
who have a hearing impairment, a chronic disorder of the ear, are Deaf or deafblind and
the families who support them. The Summit receives funding from the Australian
Government as a National Disability Conference initiative.
Fish with malformed ear bones, also known as otoliths, may lose as much as 50 percent of
their hearing sensitivity, Reimer says.
The otoliths of these fish vibrate at a different frequency than the rest of the animals body
and are used to pick up and measure sound waves, as well as to convert them into an
electrical current that the brain processes. In healthy fish, these bones are composed of
aragonite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate. But as Reimer and colleagues found,
many of these otoliths were deformed and composed of a different material vaterite.
The presence of these vaterite deformities was 10 times higher in farmed fish than in wild
animals, according to the study.
From Newsweek http://www.newsweek.com/half-all-farmed-fish-have-hearing-loss-thanksdeformed-ear-bones-453230