Senator SIEWERT (Western Australia—Australian Greens Whip) (17:40): I seek leave to take note of the responses by the premiers of various states to the resolution on hearing health for Indigenous Australians. Leave granted. Senator SIEWERT: I am extremely pleased to see the responses from the state governments to this issue. I must say that I am not as extremely pleased with their actual responses, but I am pleased to see that they are engaging with this issue, and I think it does show the importance of Senate resolutions in bringing the issue of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander hearing health to the attention of, in this case, various state governments. I am pleased to see that the Premier of Western Australia has responded by outlining some of the work that they have been doing in Western Australia. I am pleased to see the response from the South Australian minister for health and ageing outlining some of the initiatives that South Australia are taking, and I am also pleased to see the response from the Northern Territory. Previously we have had responses from Tasmania and Queensland. New South Wales have responded by saying that they are going to be responding later. Those responses have highlighted the very nature of the issue that this resolution was about, and that is the lack of adequate attention to hearing health, the uncoordinated response and the fact that we need to step up very significantly our response to this issue. That is why the Australian collaboration of hearing and education has started, as a collaboration of experts, to specifically respond to the problem of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander hearing health and, in particular, the devastating impacts of otitis media on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's health and education. They are specifically looking at a systematic national holistic approach. I know that the Deadly Ears program in Queensland is very successful and should be expanded across Australia. The Earbus in Western Australia, which the Premier of Western Australia talked about, has also been very successful and has been extended from metropolitan Perth to the southwest and the Pilbara, and now funding is being sought for the Kimberley. That program is also very important. But what we are not seeing is a coordinated, holistic approach across the nation, where we are making sure that we are addressing all the issues. Yes, we do need to deal with the immediate disease problems associated with otitis media, but we have a very substantial problem in Australia now where otitis media has already damaged, very significantly, the hearing health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to the point where it is alienating them from school and having an impact on their early education. This flows on to poor educational outcomes, poor job prospects and social isolation, which often lead to poverty, poor living conditions and poor life outcomes. I have also highlighted a number of times in this place the impact that such poor hearing health and social isolation can have on interaction with the justice system. It is absolutely no coincidence that the latest survey of hearing health of Aboriginal prisoners in the Darwin Correctional Centre showed that 90 per cent of those prisoners had some form of hearing impairment or hearing loss. Therefore, it is clear that we need a systematic national holistic approach, and we particularly need to be targeting programs about literacy and numeracy development and developing those skills in preschool. A number of academics and practitioners have been developing some very innovative programs in this area. I encourage all of the state governments who have responded to the Senate resolution to have a look at the excellent work that is being done by both health and education experts working in this area. I particularly urge them to engage with the Australian collaboration for hearing and education. I know they are seeking funding for some of the program initiatives that they are developing. These are world-leading initiatives. They have to be because Australia has the highest level of otitis media in an aboriginal population in the world. It is at what they call pandemic proportions. This is a significant ongoing problem and we are not going to close the gap unless we address issues around hearing health and their associated impacts on people's life outcomes. I inform the Senate that I will continue to pursue this issue at every opportunity and I will be following up with each of the state governments that have very kindly responded to the resolution of the Senate. I congratulate them on the work they are doing, but I urge them to take further steps to make sure we have a holistic national systematic response to this devastating issue. Question agreed to.