“On 31 July 2024, we published an article in One in Six newsletter titled “Health Ministers Evaluate Regulation Options for Audiology Sector.” This stated that professional associations within the audiology field have financial relationships with large multinational companies through sponsorships and advertising, that their reliance on that source of income creates an apparent conflict of interest, and that their financial dependency on that income can unconsciously align their interests more closely with those of commercial entities.
It has been brought to our attention that the article may have been interpreted as suggesting that the two professional associations in the audiology industry in Australia, Australian College of Audiology, and Audiology Australia, are financially reliant on financial support from manufacturers or other commercial interests, and that their decision-making is compromised by private funding.
It was not our intention to convey this. Deafness Forum acknowledges and accepts that the Australian College of Audiology and Audiology Australia are financially self-reliant organisations that are not compromised by private funding, and apologises for any suggestion to the contrary. We therefore retract the following statements:
“professional associations within the audiology field have financial relationships with [large multinational companies who have a vested interest in shaping regulation that favour existing business models] through sponsorships and advertising”;
- “reliance on that source of income, and, in the case of one professional body, a service model predicated on the exclusive right to self-regulate creates an apparent conflict of interest”;
- “[f]inancial dependency can unconsciously align [these professional associations’] interests more closely with those of the commercial entities than with the end users”;
- “[t]he introduction of full independent regulation is likely to be a step towards more sustainable and ethical practices…”;
- “partial additional regulation or maintaining the current self-regulated framework benefits the few at the expense of the many”;
- “[f]ull independent registration would dismantle conflicts of interest, removing or minimising the commercial leverage over regulatory processes and ensuring that the focus remains squarely on quality care and patient safety”.
Our article also included a comparison of audiologists and audiometrists to Doctors and Nurses. This was not intended to diminish, in any way, the important work done by audiometrists, who provide professional hearing care to a large percentage of the population.