Ear and hearing health is vital for overall health and quality of life. Ear disease and associated hearing loss can have long-lasting impacts on education, wellbeing and employment.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are more likely than non-Indigenous children to experience ear and hearing problems. A number of factors contribute to the poorer ear and hearing health of Indigenous children, including lack of access to health services, household overcrowding and second-hand smoke exposure. Since 2018, the Australian Government has funded the Northern Territory Government to deliver hearing health outreach services available to more than 31,500 Indigenous children and young people aged under 21 in the Northern Territory.

This report presents new data for the Hearing Health outreach services for 2019. It focuses on services provided in 2019 and produces time trends between July 2012 and December 2019.