Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia-Australian Greens Whip) (16:34): I, and also on behalf of Senator Fifield and Senator McLucas, move:
That the Senate-
(a) notes:
(i) that the week beginning 21 August 2011 is
national Hearing Awareness Week and the theme for
2011 is ‘I’m ready for anything! Is anything ready for
me?’,
(ii) that the theme recognises that for the
3.55 million Australians with hearing impairment,
technology is providing more possibilities than ever
before to assist their inclusion in society,
(iii) that improvements in technology have
minimised the barriers to communication,
(iv) that technology is also making huge inroads
into improving the quality of educational access and
employers have more support than ever to make their
workplace inclusive and accessible for Australians
with a hearing impairment,
(v) the incredible innovations that have been made
by a number of Australian organisations into assistive
technologies,
(vi) the ‘Hear Us’ inquiry undertaken by the
Community Affairs References Committee in 2010,
(vii) the ongoing work that is required to
improve hearing health in Australia as well as ensuring
that Australians with a hearing impairment are not
excluded,
(viii) the funding commitments to the Better Start
for Children with Disability program which provides
flexible funding for early intervention services to
parents of children with hearing impairment, and
(ix) the additional funding provided to the
Hearing Services Program which provides extended
eligibility for young people to hearing aids, services
and cochlear speech processors, increased access to
hearing aids and cochlear speech processors for more
children, and additional hearing services and aids for
Indigenous adults and people with complex hearing
problems; and
(b) seeks the Australian Government to:
(i) continue raising awareness of hearing
impairment and chronic ear disorders in order to:
(A) reduce the incidence of hearing loss and/or
chronic ear disorders,
(B) increase the public awareness of the needs and
aspirations of hearing impaired Australians, and
(C) promote inclusion and understanding of hearing
impaired Australians,
(ii) provide access to technologies, organisations
and communities that can improve engagement in
education, employment and community,
(iii) continue to support organisations that
provide assistance to hearing impaired individuals,
their families, communities, employers and schools,
(iv) continue to support and fund Australian hearing
health research and innovation, and
(v) continue to implement the recommendations of
the Hear Us: Inquiry into Hearing Health in Australia
report with an emphasis on inclusion.
Question agreed to.