Better Hearing Australia
Yesterday I spoke about Heart Support-Australia, a wonderful organisation in my electorate that provides a community of lifelong support to heart patients and their carers. Today I would like to share a few words about another outstanding community service organisation that has a significant presence in the Ginninderra Electorate, the ACT branch of Better Hearing Australia.
As a not-for-profit public benevolent institution and recognised charity, Better Hearing Australia has a proud history of over 80 years in providing active support to the hearing-impaired community all over Australia. Its origins date back to 1932 and the first meetings of the Victorian Lipreaders Club. In 1935 this community spread to Sydney. Better Hearing Australia first commenced operations in Canberra in 1993 as part of the Sydney Branch but has since grown into its own branch, becoming an incorporated association in 2012.
The Better Hearing Australia Canberra Group provides assistance to people in the ACT with hearing loss, offering information, education and support. They provide intensive training to numerous committed volunteers, who then regularly help the hearing-impaired people in our community.
Every Tuesday afternoon in Holder and every Tuesday evening at the Woden Hellenic Club, you’ll find a cheery band of Better Hearing Australia volunteers and an enthusiastic community running and participating an education program called ‘Hearing Loss Management’.
These sessions are designed to give new skills to those having difficulty adjusting to their loss of hearing, as well as assisting hearing-aid users and helping people make informed choices when they are at the point of obtaining hearing aids. The program welcomes people with all types of hearing loss, whether mild or profound – or anywhere in between.
In addition to their trained volunteers, the Canberra Group are also lucky to have three aural rehabilitation teachers, who provide training and advice on hearing loss to people in the ACT as well as the surrounding region. Hearing awareness training is also offered to the government and local businesses as part of their access program.
Like so many other community service organisations in Canberra that do so much to help those experiencing poor health or disability of some kind, the ACT branch of Better Hearing Australia has received ongoing support from SHOUT, and I wish them the very best as they seek to continue to serve our community in the future.
