Home 9 Consumer Hub 9 When Does My Child Need a Hearing Check?

Need to Understand Children’s Hearing and Hearing Checks?

Gain practical information on the types of childhood hearing loss, the signs to look out for that might suggest your child needs a hearing test, and what these hearing tests look like.

You can read about this in the list of FAQs below, or if you prefer, learn even more by watching a recording made by President of Audiology Australia Lia Traves in 2026 for World Hearing Day, on the topic “Helping Parents Understand Children’s Hearing and Hearing Checks”.

Why is hearing so important for children?

Hearing is one of the key building blocks of childhood development.

Children learn to talk by listening to the sounds around them – your voice, songs, stories, and everything they hear in daily life all helps them to learn to communicate. Hearing helps children to understand instructions, develop social skills, learn to read, and join in play and conversation.

Even a very mild hearing loss can affect these things – particularly during the first three years of life which are crucial for speech and language development.

^ Back to top

How do I know if my child needs a hearing check?

Babies

Babies use their hearing to learn about the world from the moment they’re born, so you may want to get your baby’s hearing checked if you notice they don’t startle at loud sounds, don’t turn toward your voice, or haven’t started babbling by about 6 months of age.

Other signs include frequent ear infections, not responding to familiar voices, or seeming unusually quiet.

Toddlers and older children

Your toddler, preschooler, or school-aged child may need a hearing check if they:

don’t respond consistently when spoken to, especially from another room
frequently say “What?” or “Huh?” or seem to mishear words
if they have delayed or unclear speech
if they want the TV or tablet turned up louder than others find comfortable
if they struggle to follow instructions, especially in noisy places
or if they have repeated ear infections or a history of temporary hearing problems.

If you notice any of these signs, a simple hearing check can help make sure your child is hearing well, or if not, make sure that they are getting the support they need.

^ Back to top

What is a hearing screening?

A hearing screening is a quick and simple check to see whether your child might have a hearing problem. It’s not a full hearing test, but it helps identify children who may need a closer look. Screening gives a “pass” if hearing is adequate for speech and language development, or a “refer” if your child needs to do a full diagnostic hearing test with an audiologist.

Hearing screening for babies

Thankfully, we have a wonderful system of newborn hearing screening in Australia and over 90% of all babies born have their hearing screened at birth. Before newborn hearing screening was introduced, children with profound hearing loss were typically not identified until around 12 months of age, and children with more moderate hearing losses often weren’t diagnosed until they were about five. However, with newborn hearing screening, the aim is to diagnose hearing loss by three months of age and have children in early intervention by six months of age. This has really helped to ensure that children born with hearing loss are found and get the support they need from a very early age.

Hearing screening for later in childhood

However, not all hearing losses are present at birth, so hearing screening is also useful at other times during childhood. Hearing screening is sometimes offered free of charge in kindies, schools or in community health services. Some services will offer screening for children from nine months of age, while other screening programs are suited for children from four years.

The availability of hearing screen services varies in different locations, so if you have any concerns about your child’s hearing, it’s a good idea to ask your GP or child health nurse about hearing screening options in your area.

^ Back to top

What are other options for checking my child’s hearing?

In recent years, some hearing screening apps have become available that allow parents to do a quick screen of their children’s hearing at home on a smart phone and tablet.
Sometimes a full diagnostic hearing test is needed. This may be if your child has been referred from hearing screening. Or sometimes you, your doctor, teacher, speech pathologist or someone else working with the child may have concerns that warrants a full hearing test. If this is the case, your child will need to see an audiologist.

^ Back to top

What can I expect from a diagnostic hearing test?

Diagnostic hearing tests can be carried out by audiologists on children of all ages. The audiologist will carry out several different tests to get a full picture of your child’s hearing and how well their ears are working. Nearly every test will include a case history, where the audiologist asks some questions about your child’s health and development.

They will then look in the ears to check the ear drum and check for things like excessive wax build up or discharge or whether your child has grommets.

Another common test carried out at all ages is called tympanometry – where the audiologist puts a small plug in the ear that measures how well the ear drum moves. This can tell the audiologist if the child’s middle ear is functioning properly.

Infants and babies: ABR

If your baby requires a hearing test, they will likely be assessed using a test called Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR). ABR is a safe and gentle way to check how your baby’s hearing system is working while your baby is asleep. Tiny sensors are placed on their head, and soft clicking sounds are played through small earphones. The sensors measure how the hearing nerves and brain respond to these sounds.

It doesn’t hurt, and most babies sleep through the whole test. ABR testing needs specialised training and equipment so not all audiologists do this type of testing. It’s most often found in hospital audiology clinics.

9 months to 3.5 years: VRA

Children aged from around 9 months to about 3.5 years are tested using Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA).

VRA is a simple test where the child is kept quietly distracted while soft sounds are played through speakers or headphones. They are trained to turn to a visual reward (like a puppet or animation) each time they hear a sound.

This helps us understand how well your child hears at the different pitches that make up the speech range in a way that feels like a game.

Children over 3.5 years: play autiometry

From about 3.5 years of age, children can be tested by playing a simple game like putting a block in a bucket or pressing a button each time they hear a sound. This is called play audiometry / pure tone audiometry.

At this age the audiologist might also do some speech audiometry to see how well your child can hear speech.

^ Back to top

What is the role of the audiologist?

The role of the audiologist will change during different parts of a child’s journey.

Diagnostic audiologists will be responsible for carrying out the tests to determine if your child has a hearing loss, and if so, the type and degree of loss. They will also explain the results to you and recommend the next steps.

Sometimes the same audiologist will do the diagnostic testing and provide hearing aids or cochlear implants, but sometimes there may be different audiologists involved for the different roles.

^ Back to top