First Voice was founded on the principle that by sharing knowledge, experience and resources we could achieve far more for children with hearing loss and their families than by operating alone, and we could do it faster and better. Mutual support and collaboration extends across research, clinical outcomes, organisational structures and fundraising.

 

What exactly does First Voice do?
Primarily, First Voice advocates for best practice early intervention services that give children with hearing loss the listening and spoken language skills necessary to achieve mainstream education, employment of choice and social integration within the hearing world.
This is achieved by working with government and other organisations to influence public policy and funding decision making, and by providing evidence-based research to inform and influence the public health agenda.
Despite its limited resources, First Voice is a strong, active and influential organisation within the early intervention sector. Its lobbying efforts were instrumental in securing recurrent federal government funding for early intervention services for not only hearing impaired children, but across a range of other disability areas.

 

Why is being part of First Voice important for TSH?
As a founding member of First Voice, Telethon Speech & Hearing has enjoyed significant benefits through its membership, such as improving clinical practice, design of programs, advocacy for improvement to the systems in which we work, and so much more.

The camaraderie and support from the other centres, to share outcomes with, bounce ideas off, or visit, has meant we have been able to deliver world-leading programs. Being a member of First Voice has enabled us to be part of a collection of like-minded organisations, all of whom focus on positive outcomes for children with hearing loss and their families.

 

What are some of the successes that First Voice has achieved?
First Voice is a powerhouse for driving change in our field of work. It has been involved with the introduction of universal newborn hearing screening, operational trials of the NDIS, changes to the NDIS for children with hearing loss, the establishment of rapid referral pathways for children to get the support they need early in life, and the ability to claim Medicare benefits for cochlear implant mapping, just to name a few.

 

What difference has First Voice made in Australia and New Zealand?
First Voice member centres lead the world in what we do, despite some of the lengthy systems and processes families have to navigate. First Voice has been able to bring about change to enable the earliest detection of hearing loss and provide the best possible therapies and supports to children with hearing loss and their families through world-leading best practice, ongoing research, and combined advocacy efforts.

 

What does First Voice contribute on the world stage?
Australia has the best pathways for the early detection of hearing loss and the best network of providers to support children with hearing loss. Our advocacy, our programs, and our outcomes are the envy of the world. Australia should be proud of what we have achieved for children with hearing loss; we should be inviting the world to follow our lead. First Voice has been a driving force behind all of these things, and a voice of reason for those whose voices are yet to be heard.