Services & Departments

About Barwon Health Audiology Services

 

Hearing care to suit your needs

Audiology services at Barwon Health deliver flexible, convenient and COVID-safe hearing care for our community.

Which service is best for you – telehealth services or face-to-face appointments?

We offer a combination of telehealth hearing support services and face-to-face diagnostic audiology tests.

Most new referrals will be offered a telehealth or telephone appointment with an audiologist first. Tele-audiology plays an important role as it assists to:

• Gather important information about your hearing and ear health.
• Offer you professional support as early as possible.
• Prioritise your referral.
• If you do require a face-to-face appointment, keeping your time in the clinic as short as possible.

Before your tele-audiology appointment, you are encouraged to try an online hearing check called Sound Scouts (available from Google Play Store or Apple App Store).  Sound Scouts is suitable for children over five years of age and adults. Sending your Sound Scouts results to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. may help your audiologist during your tele-audiology appointment.

For your face-to-face appointment, we have measures in place to keep our patients and staff safe. All staff practice physical distancing and good personal hygiene, including regular hand washing and use of hand sanitiser. We have reduced the number of appointments each day to allow cleaning of clinic rooms, toys and equipment between appointments. For your appointment, we ask that you:

• Attend alone if possible. If you require a carer or support person to attend with you, please let our staff know.
• If your child has an appointment, we ask that only one parent attends to reduce the number of people attending the clinic.
• If you are unwell, have been a close contact with someone who has COVID-19, or have recently visited an exposure site, please call us on phone 4215 0827 to reschedule your appointment. In most cases, you will not wait long for a new appointment.

At times when face-to-face appointment availability is restricted, priority will be given to patients who meet our urgent criteria. Please contact the audiology service on phone 4215 0827 if you believe you meet the following criteria:

• Newborns who receive a ‘refer’ result on the Victorian Infant Hearing Screening Program test at birth.
• People who have experienced a sudden drop in hearing.
• Other medically urgent patients, on direct request by a paediatrician, ear, nose and throat specialist or oncology team.

Referrals to audiology can be made by completing the audiology referral form and emailing it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Barwon Health Diagnostic Audiology Services

Barwon Health Audiology offers a broad range of specialist outpatient and inpatient services to both the paediatric and adult population. Our services include the diagnostic assessment of auditory disorders and management of patients with hearing loss and communication difficulties, and also the diagnostic assessment of vestibular (balance) function. 

Barwon Health Audiology aims to accurately diagnose hearing loss and balance disorders early, to achieve the best possible hearing health outcomes for patients.

Services are provided to all age groups, from newborns to the elderly, and can be modified to suit patients with special needs.

Standard Audiology Consultations

Adult Diagnostic Assessment

Inclusive of pure tone audiometry, tympanometry and speech recognition assessment.

Paediatric Diagnostic Assessment

Name of test	What’s involved	Appropriate age range	Additional tests
Behavioural Observation Audiometry (BOA)	The audiologist will make different sounds at different volumes to see how your child responds.	Approx. 5 months – 9 months	Tympanometry Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs)*
Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA)	The audiologist will use a puppet box and play sounds through a speaker to see how your child responds.	Approx. 9 months – 2 ½ years	Tympanometry Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs)*
Play Audiometry	The audiologist will teach your child to play a listening game wearing headphones.	Approx. 2 ½ – 5 years	Tympanometry Kendall Toy Test (KTT) assessment Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs)*

*Performed when appropriate

 

Newborn / infant hearing testing (from birth to 6 months of age)

Electrophysiological testing performed during natural sleep, includes Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) testing, Auditory Steady State Response (ASSR) testing and Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE). Older children may be assessed under mild sedation or general anaesthesia.

Infant ABR Referral form

Audio-Vestibular Assessment (AVA)

The AVA service is unique to the Barwon South West region, and aims to support patients with balance and dizzy problems. This is achieved by assessing the balance organs with the assistance of the latest technology. Referrals to this service can be made via this form.

Inpatient Service

 

Barwon Health Audiology’s inpatient service aims to reduce the impact hearing problems can have on essential communication during a patient’s hospital stay. Services we offer to support medical and nursing teams include ward based audiological consultations, loans of assistive listening devices and other communication aids, emergency hearing aid troubleshooting, wax removal and assistance with discharge planning including identification of suitable community based hearing healthcare support.