Australia’s internationally recognised newborn hearing screening programs have celebrated 25 years since an historic meeting prompted their creation.
Universal Newborn Hearing Screening programs in Australia have supported millions of Australian babies and families and detected hearing loss in thousands of newborns.
Since 2001, the proportion of newborns receiving hearing screening has increased from 6% to 97% and the average age at which hearing loss is detected has fallen from over two years of age to newborn.
About one in every 1,000 children born in Australia has a significant bilateral hearing loss identified at birth. NextSense said that since the advent of newborn hearing screening these children have received world leading services across a highly developed pathway of assessment and intervention at very early stages of their development.
Australia’s leadership in this field has also been widely recognised internationally.
Founding meeting
At a meeting in Adelaide 25 years ago on 24 March 2001, more than 110 people supporting children with hearing loss – including audiologists, teachers of the deaf, paediatricians, ENT surgeons, nurses, and parents – passed a motion that would establish Australia as the global leader in universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS).
The Consensus Statement agreed upon, Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening in Australia: A National Forum for Consensus and Implementation’ resolved that “a program of universal neonatal hearing screening should be introduced across all states and territories in Australia in order to detect children with hearing loss at the earliest possible age”.
The Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee (ANHSC) was established at the Adelaide meeting.
Professor Greg Leigh AO, NextSense Institute director and ANHSC chair, said the Adelaide meeting “was the catalyst for what is today recognised globally as a gold-standard network of UNHS programs and one being replicated in many developing countries”.
“In 2000, fewer than 6% of all Australian newborns were being screened for hearing loss,” Prof Leigh said in a media release on 24 March 2026.
“Today, newborn hearing screening is available free-of-charge to all babies born in every Australian state and territory, resulting in more than 97% of Australian babies being screened in a timely fashion after birth.
“Few countries can boast such comprehensive universal newborn screening.”
Prof Leigh has chaired the Australasian Newborn Hearing Screening Committee for more than 20 years.
NextSense said key facts which highlight the significance of its development in the Australian health and welfare landscape include:
- The very early stages of children’s development (0- 2 years, but particularly the first 12 months) are critical for the development of language and communication skills that underpin cognitive and later academic development.
- Before the newborn hearing screening programs, the average age of identification of permanent hearing loss in Australian children was more than two years of age.
- Early identification and referral to specialist early intervention is crucial for children’s overall development, resulting in better language, communication, social and emotional development, and academic outcomes for children, helping them achieve their full potential.
- Thanks to screening, children with significant hearing loss are now identified and diagnosed very early, providing the opportunity for the achievement of developmental outcomes consistent with their normally hearing peers.
- The screening process is the first step in an integrated pathway that leads to diagnostic testing, the provision of hearing devices (including hearing aids or cochlear implants), access to family support, and specialised early intervention.
- The population-based UNHS program in NSW started on 1 December 2002. Progressively, every state and territory introduced programs with national coverage finally being achieved in 2016.
WA pilot trial and international delegations
A successful pilot trial in Western Australia in 2000 was the first large scale newborn hearing pilot study in Australia. It tested the hearing of 45% of babies born in WA in 2000.
In the past two years, Prof Leigh and ANHSC colleagues have hosted delegations from several countries, including Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia where universal newborn hearing screening programs are under development or are undertaking steps to improve outcomes.
In that same period, Prof Leigh was invited to speak on the topic in China, the Middle East, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Over the past 18 years, he has also been closely involved in Australia’s internationally regarded Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study, which he said had clearly demonstrated the impact of earlier identification and intervention in congenital hearing loss.
How newborn hearing screening works
In all Australian programs newborn hearing screening is conducted using an Automated Auditory Brainstem Response (AABR) test. The test is usually conducted at the bedside while mother and baby are still in hospital.
Once the baby is settled, or preferably asleep, the screener will attach three soft sticky pads to the child (usually on the forehead, cheek, and nape of the neck). The screener also places earmuffs or earplugs to the baby’s ears. Sounds are presented through these earpieces to the baby.
The AABR equipment automatically measures the baby’s response to these sounds. The test takes no more than 20 minutes to complete, and results are available immediately.
If there was not a clear response to sound on the first screen, another hearing screen is arranged, ideally before the baby leaves the hospital. If a definitive response is not achieved on these two screens, the baby will be referred for full diagnostic testing by a specialised paediatric audiologist.
Read Prof Leigh’s opinion piece on other hearing screening possibilities.
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