To Hear For Life, Listen With Care!

Did you know there are currently 4 million Australians living with hearing loss?
And this figure is predicted to increase to almost 9 million by 2050 as the population ages.

World Hearing Day in Australia is held on 3 March each year to raise awareness of how to prevent deafness and hearing loss, and to promote better ear protection and health across the world.

The global theme of this year’s World Hearing Day is ‘To hear for life, listen with care’.

Hearing loss costs the Australian economy more than $15 billion a year. Then there’s the personal cost that we can’t put a dollar figure on.

Hearing is vital for people’s communication abilities, quality of life, social participation, and health.

This World Hearing Day, Deafness Forum Australia is calling on all Australians to recognise the importance of their hearing at all stages of life, and help prevent hearing loss through safe listening, at home, at work or wherever they may be.

Hearing often deteriorates as people get older but it can happen at any stage of life, with one in two young people at risk of hearing loss due to unsafe listening,

You can also be at risk of noise-induced hearing loss if you regularly work in a noisy place or listen to music through headphones or attend loud concerts or fitness classes with amplified music.

In reality, hearing loss due to noise cannot be reversed.

But it is possible to have good hearing across the life course through ear and hearing care

Many common causes of hearing loss can be prevented. This can include turning the volume down on your devices, say 60 per cent of maximum, using well-fitted noise-cancelling head phones, limiting time in noisy environments and using sound exposure apps.

‘Safe listening’ can reduce the risk of hearing loss associated with recreational and work sound exposure. Learn more tips for safe listening here

You can also download the World Health Organisation’s World Hearing Report.

Deafness Forum of Australia is joining WHO in calling upon governments, industry partners and civil society to raise awareness for and implement evidence-based standards that promote safe listening.

We would love you to be part of it.

There is a range of free information resources here that you can download here, including a Facebook frame, social graphics and posters for the workplace.