Where is a branch near me?
HERE is the latest list of Branches and ways to contact them. Your Hearing Loss Journey is a journey NOT to delay! Contact a branch and start assisting yourself on the journey. Many of them have special projects that might interest you. If not, feel free to ask if you can help in other ways.
We have had branches all over Australia starting with Sydney in 1932. All branches can help with Lipreading Classes, Advice, Support and Social Activities. All branches have a family membership option too.
Here are some of the branches you could join (yes, you COULD join more than one if you really really want!), and just some of the special projects that the local group support in their efforts to ease the effects of hearing loss for those wish to keep cognitively engaged and socially active.
BRANCH Website CONTACT Email Branch Features
- Canberra bhacanberra@gmail.com Music & Hearing Loss Presentations with CSO
- Brisbane info@bhabrisbane.org.au Audiologists; Loops Project; NDIS advisors
- Central Coast bhacc@harbourisp.net.au Merniere’s Disease Support
- Western Australia info@betterhearingwa.org Qsign Project; Lipreading & Auslan Conversation
- Victoria info@soundfair.org.au SoundFair in Victoria, but they hold a BHA license
- Sydney bhasyd@ozemail.com.au A branch with own office
Some people are avoiding journeys right now because of COVID, uncertainty and the usual unknowns of the future. BUT you must not put off the planning for your HEARING LOSS JOURNEY!
On average people with some hearing loss take more than 7 years to decide they need to ’do something’… Don’t put it off, stop avoiding social settings and stop saying ‘everyone mumbles’!
All we need is to harness a) our brain (by giving it lots of sounds to work with), and b) technology (there have been so many technological advances of recent times). All these will make our hearing loss journeys better.
Remember, this is a worthwhile journey… Join us on a trip that is easy to take, more exciting than ever to participate in. Crucially, this journey can also be better for those around us who claim to have little hearing loss (“its only the ones who mumble that I have trouble with, you know”). Talk to them too.
Many people today find that just two skills and two bits of kit make all the difference: namely a) lipreading skills and your social skills and b) hearing aids with Bluetooth(R) and learning to turn on captioning/sub-titles. These can completely change things.
Ask us about how we can make YOUR hearing loss journey one of the better journeys of your life. Click on the Contact us link above.
Closed Branches
COVID has taken its toll on many volunteer-based groups too. Many of our branches are in need of revitalisation and if you live somewhere that needs a BHA Branch, and wish to help, please say.
Branch —- Previous contact —- Date closed
Newcastle. bhanewc@gmail.com 61 Christo Road, Waratah 2020
Wagga 0413 844 627 bhawagga@lizzy.com.au 2019
South Australia 2021
Tasmania 2019
Bunbury, WA 2021
School of Aural Rehabilitation
School of Aural Rehabilitation (SOAR)
Shona Fennell, 7 Agnes St, SEATON, SA 5023
Email: msfennell@bigpond.co
Albert Parr
Wanted to know more about the hearing loop.
SA branch was closed in SA in 2021
Who can I contact.
Need help with communication and TV.
Feeling isolated and out of contact with everything.
Hearing aids not much helpSA branch was closed in SA in 2021
Who can I contact.
Need help with communication and TV.
Feeling isolated and out of contact with everything.
Hearing aids not much help
In December last year Albert Parr sent the following message to the BHA website:
Wanted to know more about the hearing loop.
SA branch was closed in SA in 2021
Who can I contact.
Need help with communication and TV.
Feeling isolated and out of contact with everything.
Hearing aids not much help
I am sorry it has taken so long for your message to pop up. Im afraid the previous website editor person has stopped, and we are still learning what to do to keep a website going!
I am sorry to hear you are feeling isolated, and find your hearing aids ‘not much help’. I hope we can assist, at least a little. And we can also provide some suggestions for connecting TVs, phones etc to your hearing aids.
My name is Barney and I’m a member of the WA branch. I gather you are in SA? You are right they closed, but I am sure we can provide some guidance and ideas for you. You are welcome to contact any BHA branch around Australia. And of course your provider of your hearing aids will be able to advise you too.
First of all, most branches have lots of helpful notes and guidelines on the hearing loss journey, on their website. Eg, in WA, we have a page full of resources which might give you some ideas…. https://betterhearingwa.org/resources/
Secondly, we have just started a project trying to document where all the loops are in each city in Australia… it’s a big project and it will take a while, but we have discovered there is no register of places with audio loops for clients with hearing impairment. Feel free to visit the WA website and look for the Loops Project (but give us a few weeks, we have only just joined and we are talking volunteers here!). For more info about Loops and how they work, I recommend researching “audio loops and T-switches”. Note your aid must have a T-switch to connect to any loop.
There are two features that your hearing aid provider should have asked you about, namely a T-switch, and Bluetooth. But also, if the aids dont help much you have to decide whether they need adjustment. Your audiologist should be able to make your hearing aids sing, dance etc; well, maybe just improve your apparent hearing significantly. But you need to give them good feedback to enable them to help you.
Once they are adjusted properly, the features that improve things further are T-switches and Bluetooth. Both of these features need to be setup in your hearing aids, but if they didn’t ask you, they might not be installed in your aids. So your first two steps are to find these answers:
1. tell me whether your aids have a T-switch; and
2 tell me whether you aids have Bluetooth installed.
Once these questions are settled, they determine what support your aids can give you. Bluetooth allows you to talk to your smart phone without lifting it to your ear, and gives you good quality audio straight to your aids. And there are Bluetooth connectors which allow you to listen to a TV as well, again with high quality sound. Loops are used at places like The Train Service Enquiry counter here in Perth Station; by turning on the T-switch you in an hearing aid with a T-switch again get audio straight to your aids.
Feel free to ask any further questions that concern you, but don’t forget the audiologist is your personal magician.They are the ones who should be able to help you find aids to suit you needs, your budget and work with your IT kit at home.