1 in 6 Australians is currently affected by hearing loss – it’s more common than you think.
“Get the Message”
Hearing Awareness Week 19 – 25 August 2007
 

Hearing Awareness Week 2007 focuses on different ways we can communicate. It’s time to lift the blanket of invisibility and raise the awareness of hearing impairment and deafness in the Australian community at large. 2007 is the time to get the message out.
Currently over 3.55 million Australians live with some form of hearing impairment on a daily basis. According to the 2006 Access Economics report this is likely to increase to one in four Australians by the year 2050. This increase can be attributed to the ageing population of Australia as well as an increasing number of Australians suffering from noise induced hearing loss, something which is entirely preventable. In Australia, hearing loss is more common than all national health priorities except musculoskeletal conditions. This means hearing loss is more common than cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, asthma, cancer and mental illness.1
Having a hearing loss or deafness affects a person’s capacity to communicate and function effectively in society. However the barriers to participation in society for a person with a hearing loss largely come from the community’s lack of understanding of how to communicate.

Activities over this week include free hearing tests at a range of hearing clinics around Australia and free information expos organized by community groups.

Visit the Hearing Awareness Week website www.hearingawarenessweek.org.au for more events.

Main events being held during Hearing Awareness Week
The Deafness Forum annual Captioning Awards held in Sydney on August 23. The awards recognize achievements, initiative and excellence in captions. Comedian Colin Lane will MC the evening. Guest award presenter Mr Graeme Innes, Disability Discrimination Commissioner of HREOC. Captions help people who are Deaf or have hearing loss to understand and follow the soundtrack. Captioning ensures that everyone has the ability to access broadcast messages.

At Parliament House (Canberra), Australian Hearing will be running two days of hearing tests for politicians and their staff.
Hearing Awareness Week is a national event held in the last full week of August each year. It provides an opportunity to raise community awareness of hearing impairment and hearing loss prevention.

Deafness Forum is a national peak body for people who are Deaf, have a hearing impairment or chronic disorder of the ear. Deafness Forum is the national coordinating body for Hearing Awareness Week.