Expression Audiology celebrated its 50th anniversary with a commemorative event in Melbourne. Guests heard that the teachings of its predecessor, H.E.A.R Service, became foundational concepts in hearing rehabilitation and skills that audiologists are taught nationwide.
When the late Mrs Patricia Pengilley and Mrs Kathleen Herron, both teachers of the Deaf, co-founded the Hearing Education and Rehabilitation (H.E.A.R) Service in Melbourne in 1975, little did they know the impact it would have on the rehabilitation of generations of people with hearing loss.
The pioneers established the service for people with acquired hearing loss who had lost their hearing later in life. Few resources existed at that time for this growing segment of the population.
The story was revisited at Expression Audiology’s 50th anniversary celebrations on 15 October 2025, when former and current staff, family members, board members and others from the sector attended the golden jubilee event at the organisation’s new Collingwood headquarters.
The milestone represents the founding of Expression Audiology’s predecessor, the H.E.A.R Service in Melbourne which came under the umbrella of Expression Audiology in 2018.
Expression Audiology is part of Expression Australia which was established in 1884 as the Victorian Deaf Society (Vicdeaf). In 2018, Vicdeaf’s services rebranded to become Expression Australia although it still legally operates as the Victorian Deaf Society.
At the event, Kathleen Herron told guests: “It’s really special to see so many people here today including people we’ve known over the years and worked with, and to see how the organisation has moved with the times; I’m so glad I was able to be a part of it. It’s a special place today, a wonderful plan and architecture.”
Earlier in a video reflection, she recalled that her father was a teacher at the NSW School for Deaf Children when she was a child. She would often go with him and was looked after by the older children. She also met Patricia Pengilley who was a teacher at the school.
“I loved all the contact I had with the deaf community; I saw what my father did and how happy he was, so I became a teacher of the deaf too,” Herron recalled.
Twenty years later, when at home with her two young daughters, a car pulled up and out stepped Pengilley, armed with a proposition.
“Pat said, ‘I’m starting a service for people who were born hearing but lost their hearing later in life. There’s really nothing here for them – they’re being told to buy a hearing aid and they’ll be right,” she recalled. “We chatted for ages, and it sounded really exciting.”
Pengilley had been running courses solo but after her visit, the couple approached the Victorian Deaf Society (Vicdeaf) and started running community education courses onsite. They began outreach into the community where people with hearing loss were, educating about assistance aids. They spoke to ENT specialists and people selling hearing aids, advising there was more to communication than hearing aids.
The pair knew there were good programs overseas and Pengilley received a Churchill Fellowship to go to Sweden to study some. A Hospitals and Charities Commission grant in 1972 helped establish their own service with a receptionist, teachers and nurses.
Assisted listening devices
These community educators went into the community and gave talks on devices such as amplified telephones, loop systems, systems to hear the television better, baby cry alarms, smoke alarms and special doorbells for those with hearing loss.
In 1975, a $3 million government grant enabled them to establish H.E.A.R Service to run courses and provide education soon after The University of Melbourne audiology course started.
“Patricia had a lot of input into that, and we had students come to us,” Herron said. “We employed the first audiologist to graduate from Melbourne Uni which was amazing. The grant money enabled us to build a sound treated room and a devices room where people could see assisted listening devices.
“I loved my time at H.E.A.R Service. Patricia was an amazing woman; she had the vision – I could work with her to help get that vision into operation – but I didn’t have that vision she had; she was determined.”
Patricia Pengilley’s daughters, Ms Penelope Pengilley, Ms Sara Timms and granddaughter Ms Florence Stewart, attended the recent celebration. Penelope’s video reflection revealed her mother was born in India, where she trained as a teacher and taught at a school for deaf children before returning to Australia to teach lipreading for the Australian Association of Better Hearing.
Later, on her husband Cecil’s sabbatical in Bangalore, a nun asked her to set up a school for deaf children which she did. “During this time in 1968, she wrote the book, By Word of Mouth, presenting a coordinated approach to aural rehabilitation, which pulled together ideas she had about communication, working with people with acquired hearing loss and their family and colleagues,” her daughter said.
It suggested how to come to terms with hearing loss and explained tinnitus and potential treatment.
After she co-founded H.E.A.R Service, it was recognised as Community Educator of the Year due to its extensive outreach into communities and helping teach people how to deal with hearing loss, Penelope said.
“Everything had to be just right; the level of commitment she had for her clients was remarkable, the awareness she helped create, and encouragement of good communication skills in the community,” she added.
Key milestone
Lawyer, Ms Rebecca Adam, the first Deaf CEO to lead Expression Australia, said the anniversary was a key milestone, representing half a century of people connecting with sound and developing their confidence to connect to community.
“It’s also half a century of care, compassion, guidance and support for thousands of individuals to access the pleasure of being able to hear,” Adam said. “The 1970s was a bold and visionary time and that drive continues today.
“Access to community from a small clinic has grown to a trusted audiology service in Victoria and Tasmania, and in future it will become a national service.”
She paid tribute to its “exceptional audiologists”, innovations and “remarkable founders and pioneers of the service”, Patricia Pengilley and Kathleen Herron.
“The stories we hear and the smiles on our clients’ faces are testament to that legacy,” Adam said. “The work all Expression Audiology staff do, and their expertise, empathy and dedication have transformed lives. Thanks also to clients and families for trusting us; you’re the reason we do what we do.”
While audiology was a key component of what Expression Audiology provided, it also offered advocacy, information, interpreting, awareness programs and community support. “I hope the next 50 years continues to be innovative, enhancing communication for all, regardless of their level of hearing loss,” Adam said.
“Expression Audiology is led by Jenna Turner, head of audiology, senior audiologists Gloria Lee and Matt Grounds, and audiologist Evita Elango, who have done an extraordinary job of providing warmth and professionalism in everything they do.”
Turner reviewed its successes at the event and thanked clients whose support and loyalty had kept it going.
“I’m so proud to work in an organisation which truly champions diversity,” she said. “It’s not
just 50 years of Expression Audiology, but 50 years of independent values-driven audiology practice rooted in the principles of empowerment, partnership and communication.”
Foundational concepts
A unique audiology service, it sat alongside the deaf and hard of hearing community, and was a visionary organisation with accessibility at its heart, she added.
“Pat and Kathleen’s work employing the first Melbourne Uni audiologist, educating the public on acquired hearing loss, running courses and information sessions on how to communicate and general communication skills were foundational concepts in hearing rehabilitation,” Turner said,
“They are now skills that audiologists are taught at university, and they championed these concepts. Patricia had the concept and the courage while Kathleen the connections and the knowledge of how to put these in place. One would not have existed without the other.”
Turner said Expression Audiology had a valued partnership with Word of Mouth Technology whose founders, Mr Bob Willis and his wife Betty, had pioneered assistive listening devices (ALDs) such as baby cry alarms and doorbell alarms. This legacy lived on through its Victorian and Tasmanian smoke alarm subsidy.
“They put ALDs in the space of audiologists and made them think about holistic care and the whole person, not just their ears and hearing,” she said.
In the 1990s and 2000s, the legacy of classes, public education, hearing screening and reduced price hearing aids continued, Turner said. In the 2010s, former CEO Ms Gina Birch expanded the audiology clinic to Oakleigh while East Melbourne and Box Hill clinics were refreshed.
All clinics featured ALD displays and in 2008 a booth at Highpoint Shopping Centre offered free hearing screening. In 2011 Mr Matthew Grounds took the audiology leadership role.
“He brought about great change and innovation and without it we wouldn’t be here today,” Turner said. “This encompassed the Hearing Services Program, the NDIS, opening a Geelong office, and expanding home assisted tech sessions.” Turner said it was a legacy to learn from and be proud of.
“Our clients have also had a big role in this legacy; it’s a shared milestone,” she said.
Mr Demetrio Zema, Expression Australia board chair, added: “We’ve come a long way in 50 years and I’m so proud that Expression Audiology exists in the way it does today because of its wonderful pioneers and outstanding audiologists and leaders including Rebecca, Jenna and her team.”
Word of Mouth Technologies, WSA, Phonak, Oticon and Unitron sponsored the event, and Audeara, Emma Memma, Zema Estate, Crown Resorts, Australian Open Tennis and Verve Portraits donated raffle prizes.
Fittingly, Pengilley and Herron have clinical rooms named after them at Expression Audiology. While their names and legacy will live on regardless, it’s a nice nod to two pioneers who helped change the face of hearing rehabilitation.
