All Australian states and territories have universal neonatal hearing screening programs. However, there is no standardised national data collection to support the measuring of screening delivery and outcomes from these programs.

From June 2022 to February 2023, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) was contracted by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care (Health) to undertake an assessment of the feasibility of building a national data collection regarding neonatal hearing screening in Australia.

This report provides advice on current neonatal hearing screening data and practices across the states and territories, and the opportunities for establishing a national data collection, including recommended next steps.