Hearing Australia has published a report on young people it had provided with audiological and hearing aid or cochlear implant speech processor support services, who were under the age of 26 years at 31 December 2020.
The report, for the 2020 calendar year, provides information at national and state/territory levels and includes:
- Number of children who have an aided hearing loss
- Number of newly fitted children in the 2020 calendar year
- Fitting rates of children, teens and young adults with hearing loss
- Hearing loss distribution of aided/implanted children and young adults
- Fitting rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients under 26 years of age.
The major characteristics of the report show:
- All aided and implanted children and young adults less than 26 years of age at 31 December 2020 who are identified as being ‘current and active’ as at 31 December 2020
- Data on children and young adults who were first fitted with hearing aids from 1 January to 31 December 2020.
In summary, Hearing Australia provided audiological services, hearing aid and cochlear implant support to 26,290 citizens and permanent residents under 26 years of age, of which 2,165 (8 percent) were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
- 23,016 were aged under 21 years;
- 8 percent were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
- 3,274 were aged from 21-25 years
- 5 percent were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
In 2020 a total of 2,881 clients was fitted with hearing aids for the first time. 399 of these were children born in 2020. Of the clients first fitted during 2020,
- 2,611 were aged under 21 at the time of first fitting
- 270 were aged 21-25 years at the time of first fitting
The Hearing Australia report is available at the following link: 2020-Demographics-of-Aided-Young-Australians-at-31-December-2020