Ear and hearing health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2024

Overview

In 2018–19, the proportion of First Nations people reporting a long-term ear or hearing problem was 14% (about 111,700 people) (data table 1.1b). The proportion has remained similar over time, ranging from around 12% (in 2004–05 and 2011–13) to 15% (in 2001) (data table 1.1e).

For First Nations children aged 0–14, the proportion reporting an ear or hearing problem decreased from 11% in 2001 to 6.9% in 2018–19 (Figure PREVALENCE 1).

The information presented here refers to reported long-term ear or hearing problems. The impact of under-reporting of hearing loss on these results has not been assessed. Unless the level of under-reporting of hearing loss has increased over time, the decrease in the prevalence of reported long-term ear or hearing problems among First Nations children represents an improvement.  

Figure PREVALENCE 1: Reported long-term ear or hearing problems among First Nations people, by age, 2001 to 2018–19

Age and sex

The proportion of First Nations people reporting ear or hearing problems increased with age. In 2018–19, reported problems were lowest among First Nations children aged 0–4 (5.4%) and highest among those aged 55 and over (34%) (data table 1.1b, Figure PREVALENCE 2).

The higher proportion of older First Nations people reporting long-term ear or hearing problems reflects higher rates of hearing loss in that group, which are due to their exposure throughout life to factors that can affect hearing. These factors include middle ear infections in childhood, exposure to loud noise or injuries at any age, and the ageing process itself (WHO 2024).

The overall proportion of First Nations people reporting long-term ear or hearing problems was the same for males and females (14%) (data table 1.1f).

The proportion of older men reporting ear or hearing problems tended to be larger than the proportion of older women:

• among those aged 45–54, around 25% of First Nations men reported long-term ear or hearing problems, compared with 21% of First Nations women
• among those aged 55 years and over, around 38% of First Nations men reported long-term ear or hearing problems compared with 31% of First Nations women (Figure PREVALENCE 2).

Remoteness

Among First Nations children aged 0–14, reported long-term ear and hearing problems were more prevalent in Remote and Very Remote areas (9.7% or around 4,500), than in Major Cities (6.3% or around 6,500) or in Inner and Outer Regional areas (6.7% or around 8,600).

In contrast, among First Nations people aged 55 and over, reported long-term ear and hearing problems were more prevalent in Major Cities (35%, around 12,200) and Inner and Outer Regional areas (nearly 37%, around 16,700) than in Remote and Very Remote areas (25%, around 4,400) (Figure PREVALENCE 3).

State and territory

Across states and territories, the proportion of reported long-term ear or hearing problems among First Nations children aged 0–14 in 2018–19 ranged from just under 6% in New South Wales and Victoria to 9% in Western Australia.

Among older First Nations people, across states and territories the proportion of First Nations people aged 55 and over reporting long-term ear or hearing problems ranged from around 19% in the Northern Territory to around 51% in Tasmania (Figure PREVALENCE 4).

Types of long-term ear or hearing problems

Hearing loss was the most common reported long-term ear or hearing problem overall, affecting 10% of the First Nations population (around 83,400 people) (data table 1.1a). Long-term hearing loss is more prevalent among older people.

In 2018–19, long-term hearing loss was reported by:

• 3.8% of First Nations children aged 0–14 (nearly 11,000 children)
• 10% of First Nations people aged 15–54 (around 44,000 people)
• nearly 30% of First Nations people aged 55 and over (around 29,000 people).

Middle ear infection was reported as a long-term ear or hearing problem affecting 2.6% of First Nations children aged 0–14 (about 7,300 children) in 2018–19 (Figure PREVALENCE 5).

First Nations–non-Indigenous comparisons

First Nations people were 1.4 times as likely to report long-term ear or hearing problems as non-Indigenous Australians, after adjusting for differences in the age structure of the two populations (AIHW and NIAA 2023).

The proportion of First Nations children with a middle ear infection reported as a long-term ear or hearing problem (2.6%) was 3 times the proportion of non-Indigenous children (0.9%) (AIHW and NIAA 2023).