With Hearing Awareness Week (23 – 29 August 2015) just around the corner, Australian Hearing is rallying the country, to come together on one special day and prioritise their hearing, as part of the first ever, nation-wide Big Aussie Hearing Check.

During the Big Aussie Hearing Check on 25 August 2015, the Australian Hearing team will pop up at hundreds of famous landmarks, community halls, RSLs, pharmacies and health centres, from Darwin to Tasmania, to offer free hearing checks.

Australian Hearing anticipates up to 10,000 Aussies will pass through its doors and hearing events as part of the campaign, keeping its highly regarded audiologists and hearing health teams busy, giving their expert advice and support.

Gina Mavrias, Director of Operations and Clinical Services, said that the Big Aussie Hearing Check aims to give Australians an easy way to care for their hearing.

“While Australians are well-known for loving a good challenge, research shows that getting our hearing checked is one challenge we are not willing to take on, because we’re either too embarrassed or in denial about our hearing loss.”

Australian Hearing is tackling this issue head-on with the Big Aussie Hearing Check, an awareness day which urges Australians to get their hearing checked, Ms Mavrias explains.

“Hearing loss touches almost every Australian in some way or another.  We know that typically people wait for seven to ten years to seek help, which often not only affects the person with hearing loss, but also their family and friends.”

“The Big Aussie Hearing Check is about showing people how easy it is to make hearing checks part of a regular health routine.   A hearing check takes less than 15 minutes and we’ll be at over a hundred locations across the country, so there’s no excuse to put it off any longer.”

Research also reveals that only 15 per cent of adults diagnosed with hearing loss choose to wear hearing aids.  The main barriers which prevent Australians from taking action are the way hearing aids look and the fact that hearing loss is recognised as a sign of ageing .

“Today’s hearing aids are sleek gadgets which can be hidden and have been clinically proven to provide better than normal hearing in some cases.  Our highly qualified audiologists are here to advise anyone wanting to know more about the latest hearing technology,” said Ms Mavrias.

Also as part of Hearing Awareness Week, Australian Hearing will attempt to break a Guinness World Record for the most number of hearing checks performed at a single venue in a day. Nearly 600 Australians are expected to converge in Australian Hearing Port Macquarie centre on 23 August, to break the current world record of 494 people, which was achieved in Johannesburg in 2009.

With over 67 years’ experience supporting people to hear again, Australian Hearing is Australia’s leading hearing specialist, researcher and largest provider of government funded hearing services.  For more information visit www.hearing.com.au.

For more information about the Big Aussie Hearing Check, visit: www.hearing.com.au/bigaussiehearing.