Free hearing bus helping 2,000 kids faces closure as funding ends

Jody Wright knows just how lucky he is to have a healthy teenager at home.

His son Eli had chronic middle ear problems as a child, and Mr Wright said a chance screening by a mobile hearing service in Dubbo, in western NSW, saved the boy's life.

Eli was diagnosed with a cholesteatoma, a cyst that grows behind the eardrum in the middle ear, which can be fatal if left untreated.

"With his third operation … they cleaned the growth out, but it was millimetres from his brain," Mr Wright said.

"We thought we were going to lose him at times, but he's pulled through.

"If we didn't have the hearing bus, we'd have never known he had it."

But the free service is at risk of closing.

The charity behind it has lost its main sponsor and needs to find up to $400,000 a year to keep running.

Servicing the bush

The Hear Our Heart Ear Bus Project began in late 2011 as part of the Dubbo District Deaf Club.

The makeshift mobile children's ear clinic travels about 9,000 kilometres each year to more than 40 stops in Dubbo and western NSW, providing free hearing tests to pre-school and school-aged children.

Project director Donna Rees said in the past five years, "over 10,000 tests have been conducted, and half of those have been Aboriginal children within the region".

The tests have led to 310 children being referred to ear, nose and throat specialists, and 51 being fitted with a hearing device.

Previously, the allied health service had significant philanthropic backing through bequests.

The Hall Foundation has been the principal sponsor since 2018, but made its last contribution in July.

The project is looking for new supporters to cover running costs of up to $400,000 a year or it risks closing by the middle of next year.

"The funding is desperately needed to continue funding the staff," Ms Rees said.

"We've literally got 10 fingers in 10 pies or more."

The Western NSW Local Health District declined to comment on the service.

Without the service, many families would have to travel to Dubbo for private screening.

"We'd never have been able to afford help, there's no way," Mr Wright said.

"It would be devastating; it would be a great loss to this community."

Closing the gap

The aim of the bus is to reduce rates of middle ear infection, or otitis media, and hearing loss among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children.

The condition is a major cause of long-term ear and hearing problems in Aboriginal children, with about 8,800 children affected in 2022-23, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

University of Newcastle professor and Worimi man Kelvin Kong is one of Australia's leading ear, nose and throat specialists.

He has spent his career improving access to culturally safe health care for Indigenous communities and said services like the ear bus were vital to help close the gap.

"Hearing loss is a developmental emergency,"

he said.

"It is so crucial that our children are hearing because if they're not hearing, they aren't learning.

"Hear Our Hearts do such an invaluable service to the community and they've been doing it for such a long time … they are incredible."

In the case of the Wright family, it was not just Eli who received help.

"Sebby, my 7-year-old, he's got grommets through the bus and not only them two but my wife as well; she's got grommets and hearing aids from them," Mr Wright said.

"We probably would never have gotten it without the bus, we are very grateful."

Mr Wright said since the screenings, both Eli and Sebby were making inroads at school.

"They were having trouble in school, but now they are actually learning and they're coming home happy that they've gone to school so we're getting on with life now," he said.

Ms Rees said without the bus, there would be a lot of children sitting in school with hidden hearing loss undetected and undiagnosed and not meeting their potential with educational outcomes.