A connected hearing health system
December 2025
Every deaf and hard of hearing child deserves equitable access to high-quality care.
Without monitoring and documenting the hearing health needs of children, it’s impossible to know how well their needs are being met. The Australian National Child Hearing Health Outcomes Registry (ANCHOR) is addressing this by building Australia's first national child hearing health data system.
Genuine community partnerships to improve children’s care and support are the foundation of ANCHOR. Deaf community members, families and children are working with over 100 stakeholders across 15 professional groups to co-design ANCHOR. The registry will map services, link Victorian and Queensland data, and identify which outcomes matter most to children and their families.
Our impact
Meaningful family involvement
Established the first national AusChildDeafness Community Advisory Group. Led by families with lived experience, the group is co-designing ANCHOR’s work and contributing to child deafness research.
Amplifying children's voices
Using the Voice of the Child toolkit to ensure deaf and hard of hearing children can shape our research priorities.
Collective priority setting
Engaged families, young people and professionals across Australia to co-create a Core Outcome Set that reflects diverse needs and priorities.
Evidence-informed care
Establishing Australia’s first connected hearing health data system to improve care for children.
Next steps
ANCHOR's data linkage model will be expanded to increase access to data, and our Core Outcome Set will be finalised. Additional investment is needed to scale ANCHOR nationally and create a Learning Health System capable of transforming care for every Australian child who is deaf or hard of hearing.
The Child Deafness and Hearing Research Program aims to give all deaf and hard of hearing children the best opportunities to reach their full potential. We aim to achieve this through our mission to improve systems around their care and support. ANCHOR is supported by an NHMRC Hearing Health 2021: Evidence-based support services grant (GNT2015735).
This case study originally appeared in the Centre's 2025 Impact Report.