Like urban Australians, about 1 in 12 adults in Rural Australia have damaged their hearing with loud sound. The damage is almost always occupational noise-induced hearing loss.
Read more about How can we minimise noise damage in the worksite?
This is a story of engagement. Engagement with people who live in areas where access to services is difficult; people who live on farms and who have noise-induced hearing loss.
Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) is a significant health and economic problem in Australia. Between July 2002 and June 2007 there were about 16 500 successful workers’ compensation claims for industrial deafness involving permanent impairment due to noise. The economic burden of ONIHL is borne by workers and their families, business owners and managers, and the wider society.
Read more about Getting heard: effective prevention of hazardous occupational noise
The Americans with Disabilities Act was landmark legislation that broadly affirmed the premise that people with disabilities should be judged on the basis of their abilities, not their disabilities. Since its passage in 1990, more than forty nations have enacted disability laws that sought to bar discrimination and exclusion on the basis of disability.