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Department of Linguistics
News
The HEARing CRC
Creating Sound Value
Approximately 1 in 6 Australians have a hearing loss and tinnitus and, with the aging population, this is estimated to rise to 1 in 4 by the year 20501. Hearing loss impacts upon our ability to communicate with others, which, in turn, can affect our ability to work and socialise, ultimately impacting on our quality-of-life and potentially leading to associated health problems. It has been estimated that over 158,000 people between the ages of 45 to 64 years are not employed due to hearing loss. Therefore the cost of hearing loss due to early retirement is as high as $6.7bn as well as a loss of skills and experience in the workforce.
The HEARing Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) was one of 13 successful CRCs to be awarded funding by DEST in the 2006 selection round. It has developed from the existing CRC for Cochlear Implant & Hearing Aid Innovation. Within the new CRC, four research programmes have been developed:
- Biomolecular, genetic and physiological solutions to hearing retention (to reduce the estimated increased prevalence of hearing loss);
- Intelligent Sound Processing (to improve technology for people with hearing loss);
- Integrated Bioengineering (to improve hearing device performance)
- Clinical tools, Services and Techniques (to ensure improved diagnosis, fitting and provision of hearing devices).
The success of the HEARing CRC will be achieved through a co-ordinated and comprehensive programme approach with researchers, industry partners and clinicians working together to address the issue of hearing health in Australia.
Macquarie University is one of the 5 core parties, as well as The University of Melbourne, Australian Hearing, Cochlear Ltd and Siemens Hearing Instruments Pty Ltd, and 18 supporting members. Because Macquarie University is one of 5 universities in Australia that offer the Master of Clinical Audiology program, our role will be centred on both research and education and we will have input into all four programmes.