Program aims:
The Hearing for Learning Initiative July 2018 – June 2023 is a $7.9m community-based service enhancement program. It aims to integrate locally-based ear health project officers into existing services to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with ear and hearing problems.
Over a four-year period, the program will work with 20 communities, employ 40 part time ear health facilitators, and screen 5,000 children aged 0-16 years. The goal is to work with communities to establish reliable, sustainable, culturally appropriate services that ensure every ear of every child is healthy and hearing every day.
The Initiative will operate as a Phase III stepped-wedge cluster randomised trial. This means it will assess the effect of a novel innovation (enhanced ear health services) and whether this improves children’s health and education outcomes. The innovation will roll out in ‘clusters’ of communities, selected randomly from a pool of 20. Random allocation makes it fair and removes the bias of factors that are not well-understood, but which may influence outcomes.
Hearing loss is not just about “ears”. Ear disease affects speech and language development, many of life’s enjoyments, and access to culture, education, and employment. Children with ear problems cannot hear properly – they have trouble listening and talking, and may behave badly because they misunderstand their parents, teachers, and friends. If left untreated ear disease can have a significant impact on a child’s development and entire life trajectory. 
Program goals: Work with up to 20 remote, rural or urban communities to establish reliable, sustainable, culturally appropriate services that ensures that every ear of every child is healthy and hearing every day.
- employment - 40 ear health facilitators
- certificate II training in ear and hearing clinical and education skills
- mentoring and integration of support officers
- deliver education programs to help identify children with hearing problems
- 5,000 children aged 0 -16 years to receive ear and hearing assessments during the four year program
Click here to see more about this Menzies Health Centre program