✓ Get regular hearing tests throughout life
Regular tests are particularly important:
- if you have concerns about your hearing,
- in mid- to late-life, and/or
- if exposed to loud sounds at work or in personal life.
✓ Understand hearing screening vs hearing tests
Hearing screening is for community awareness-raising and often done online, in self-service kiosks, in shopping centres and in portable booths.
Hearing screening can be unreliable and cannot be used for diagnosis.
Further hearing tests are needed to see if treatment is needed (inc. aids).
✓ See a certified professional
Make sure you see an audiologist or audiometrist who is clinically certified to conduct hearing tests.
✓ Get a copy of your test results
You can also ask for a letter outlining your results for your GP or other health service provider.
✓ Get written recommendations and quotes
If treatment for hearing loss is recommended, ask for:
- The make and model of hearing aids recommended (if any), the features and how they will meet your needs.
- The full name of the hearing professional.
- The full costs of each treatment option/aids, with all government or private health insurance co-payments and out-of-pocket costs outlined.
✓ Take time to consider your options
Before agreeing to treatment and signing anything, you can:
- Ask for time to go away and read the written information.
- Get a second opinion from another certified professional.
- Get quotes from elsewhere.
- Discuss options with family and friends.
How to check if your hearing professional is a clinically certified audiologist or audiometrist
Ask to see their clinical certification with:
- Audiology Australia AND/OR
- The Australian College of Audiology (ACAud) Inc. HAASA
Ask the HPCCB to verify their certification if you have concerns.
Contact the Ethics Officer with questions or concerns
The Ethics Officer is available to talk through and questions or concerns you may have about hearing services. The Ethics Officer can also provide you with information about how to make a complaint and guide you through the process.
You can contact the Ethics Officer at ethicsofficer@hpccb.org.au or 0475 245 635.
The preferred, and most expedient, methods of contact for the Ethics Officer are phone and email. However, if you do not have access to a phone and/or email you can write to the Ethics Officer at:
Ethics Officer
PO Box 370
Monbulk
Victoria 3793
Further reading
Hearing Professional Conduct and Complaints Body, 2024. How are hearing service practitioners regulated? Information for public.
Hearing Professional Conduct and Complaints Body, 2024. Code of Conduct for audiologists and audiometrists by-law.
Audiology Australia, 2013. Professional Practice Standards Part B Clinical Standards.
Audiology Australia, Australian College of Audiology, and Hearing Aid Audiology Society of Australia, 2016. Scope of Practice for audiologist and audiometrists.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 2017. Hearing aids and devices- information to help make an informed choice.