Hearing
Awareness
Week 2020
HCIA’s parliamentary breakfast – hearing awareness week 2020
On Wednesday 4 March 2020 during Hearing Awareness Week, the Hearing Care Industry Association held its 6th Parliamentary Breakfast at Parliament House.
The breakfast was attended by the Hon Mark Coulton MP, Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government; the Hon Chris Bowen MP, Shadow Minister for Health; Senator Richard Colbeck, Minister for Aged Care and Senior Australians and Minister for Youth and Sport; the Hon Stuart Robert MP, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and Minister for Government Services; Trent Zimmerman MP, Chair of the House of Reps Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport; and co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Hearing Health and Deafness, Dr Fiona Martin MP and Dr Mike Freelander MP. They were joined by 40 other guests comprising Parliamentarians, advisors, senior Departmental officials, consumer groups and members of the Hearing Health Sector Alliance.
Ms Janet Muir, HCIA Director and acting Chair, served as MC, introducing a stellar group of speakers, starting with Ms Lynne Pezzullo, Director, Deloitte Access Economics, who presented key findings of the 2020 report, Hearing for Life – the value of hearing services for vulnerable Australians. Margot Albrecht and Jodie Ryan shared the experiences and challenges they faced as women of working age with untreated hearing loss.
Minister Mark Coulton emphasised the importance of preventative hearing health care and the value to all Australians of the Government’s world-class Hearing Services Program. He concluded his remarks by thanking HCIA for its constructive partnership with the government and important role in the health sector.
Chris Bowen reinforced the importance of access to and choice of hearing services and hearing technology for Australians, wherever they live. He congratulated HCIA on the Hearing for Life report and said, “We take your analysis seriously and look forward to working closely with you, in whatever capacity we have the opportunity.”
Download the running sheet for the Hearing Care Industry Association 6th Parliamentary Breakfast.
HCIA is very thankful to all speakers and to those who attended for helping to make the breakfast such a successful event.
