It’s been a year since the launch of the hearing industry’s newest training organisation, the Australasian College of Audiometry. HPA checks in with staff and students to see how it’s shaping the
future audiometry workforce.
Retraining in a new career at age 56 was an easy decision for Mrs Louise Garland. She gets to remain in her existing managerial job while studying audiometry to upskill so she can also help with hearing assessments.
“The Diploma of Audiometry is quite a lot of study but it’s interesting and as you get older, you only study what you really want to so it’s not a chore,” she says.
“I love it, it’s not too stressful and the workload is not overwhelming.”
Garland was the first New Zealand student to enrol in the diploma now offered by the Australasian College of Audiometry (AuCA). The organisation launched in December 2023 and is providing new opportunities for aspiring audiometrists through either a Certificate IV in Audiometry or Diploma of Audiometry.
When Garland’s husband landed a job in the South Island town of Wānaka 13 years ago, the couple moved from France.
“I was lucky enough to be introduced to Scott Wright who was setting up an audiology clinic and he employed me to assist,” she recalls.
Mr Wright, who was co-founder of Bay Audiology (New Zealand and Australia), sold that business and founded New Zealand Hearing which now has 14 clinics nationwide. With a background in HR, administration, accounting and finances, Garland is executive manager of New Zealand Hearing.
“My role for 10 years has been to visit staff and set up clinics,” she adds. “I thought audiometry was something I could consider so I could be more hands-on and when someone’s on leave, I’d be able to help by providing audiometry services.
Garland had looked at TAFE opportunities in Australia but was put off by overseas student fees.
“I was at the New Zealand Audiological Society (NZAS) conference in August 2024 and was talking to a delegate who said there was a new organisation doing audiometry training and it had a stall there,” she recalls. “I walked over and signed up on the spot. I was the first Kiwi to sign up. Two of our other employees who work in administration, from Taupo and New Plymouth, are also doing the diploma.”
Garland says the course is mostly online and involves set reading followed with assessments. “You get five attempts at each quiz but must get 100% to pass. It’s fantastic that most of the work’s online so I can still work while studying,” she adds.
“The AuCA family is great, the tutors are helpful and it’s easy to get help. Because I’ve worked in the field a long time, I have a bit of background knowledge so it’s not all new.
“I spend one to two hours a day studying after work or in my lunch break.”
There are also five workshops – three online and two practical workshops in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney or Auckland – where students learn hands-on about equipment and taking ear impressions. Garland did the first two-day online workshop from noon to 8pm NZ time.
Her two practical workshops are in Melbourne and the first in November 2024 coincided with her visit to New Zealand Hearing’s new Australian clinics, Boutique Hearing in Wantirna South and Endeavour Hills.
Each student must do practical work in an audiology practice, supervised by an audiologist or audiometrist who fills in a logbook. They oversee the students performing diagnostic tests, tympanometry, otoscopy and hearing aid fitting as part of a rehabilitation program. Wright is Garland’s supervisor.
“I’m trying to finish the diploma in a year,” she says. “It’s one of those careers where there’ll always be vacancies because the population’s ageing and the prevalence of hearing loss increases with age.”
Lived experience proves helpful
Students enrolled with AuCA span different age groups, with many being in their 20s. Mr Pat Biro is one of those. The 23-year-old is from Wonthaggi in country Victoria.
While studying a Bachelor of Science at Federation University in 2023, he was working as a disability support worker.
“I find it rewarding as helping people is what I want to do,” he says. “I’ve had congenital deafness in one ear since childhood so have seen audiologists from a young age and always found them very helpful.”
Biro started the Diploma of Audiometry in March 2024 and is still working in disability support. “It’s well delivered, staff are helpful, knowledgeable, respond promptly and support you through the work,” he says.
“There’s an online forum where you can ask questions, and the study is a manageable number of hours which fits around work. Being self-paced means you have to be motivated though so I make sure I do at least one hour study a day and a few at weekends.”
His logbook so far for supervised work at a local audiology practice covers pure tone audiometry, speech testing and ear wax removal.
“I’m quiet, so I need to learn skills for doing a case history. I sat in on one testing and audiometry review where the patient was potentially motivated to get hearing aids and the audiologist was explaining things were safer with hearing aids,” Biro says. “I piped up that I had a hearing aid and I think that helped the client.”
Biro finds the study interesting.
“It’s one of those things you have to look into to see if you would enjoy it but audiometry is a job that has a lot of unique characters,” he adds.
He also likes that there are no set deadlines, except that reading and quizzes must be done before each workshop which covers those topics.
AuCA’s origins
AuCA was established by Mr Chedy Kalach and Mr James Gibbins, founders of the country’s largest trainer of optical dispensers – the Australasian College of Optical Dispensing (ACOD) – to deliver quality training and continual professional development opportunities.
“We’ve had decades running training in the optical field and worked that out through trial and error so the audiometry college has the benefit of that experience,” says Kalach, AuCA’s director.
“This first year has been great, we’ve hit the market and built on it and feedback has been nothing but positive. The diploma has been the most popular course and is a mix of people, often with experience of hearing loss themselves or through relatives, and others working in reception in audiology clinics who are upskilling.
“We’ve had one group working in OHS at a mining company do our short occupational course for workplace hearing tests, and a cohort’s undertaking Certificate IV in Audiometry.”
General manager Ms Heather Joseph says highlights have included the launch, introducing AuCA through HPA, being welcomed by the industry, attending ACAud’s Cairns congress and the NZAS conference.
“Extending the college to New Zealand is already proving to be successful, and we’ve had several New Zealand students attend the November practical workshop in Melbourne,” Joseph says. “The first face-to-face workshop in New Zealand will be in Auckland in April.
“The 10 workshops run so far in Australia are another highlight, with students and trainers enjoying and benefitting from the opportunity to meet and engage in discussion around the content being delivered.”
Mr Chedy Kalach, Ms Heather Joseph and Ms Lian Gijo. Image: AuCA.
Kalach also had a major role in securing Australia’s first review of audiometry qualifications in a decade. This will address critical issues facing the industry including evaluating and updating diploma and certificate qualifications to ensure they reflect technological advancements and align with industry needs and regulatory requirements. AuCA had already modified its curriculum from the existing TAFE curriculum, he says.
“Our audiologists spent 18 months developing questions for the quiz bank which randomly spits out questions leading to assessments,” he adds.
A further achievement was the college being approved as a NSW Government ‘Smart and Skilled provider,’ saving students significant amounts on course fees. The move allows government subsidises for eligible NSW students meaning the college can offer discounted fees saving students thousands and, in some cases, up to $5,000.
Kalach says this will help address a nationwide skills shortage in the field. He continues to lobby other state governments for similar subsidies.
Other developments include supporting work led by ACAud inc HAASA to have audiometrists classified under their own Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations code rather than the medical technician code. AuCA’s other staff are education supervisor Ms Jessica Wagenfeld, and audiologists, course co-ordinator Ms Katie Lian, audiometry educator Dr Anne-maree Daley and audiometry trainer Ms Lian Gijo.