Australia is facing an important hearing health challenge, with low screening rates among adults and persistent stigma around hearing aids delaying intervention at a time when technology has advanced significantly.
Hearing care provider Audika Australia has announced that a new device, Oticon Zeal, is now available in Australia, aimed at addressing what it describes as an unmet need among people experiencing hearing loss.
The launch comes as new data highlights a gap between awareness of hearing issues and action taken to address them, with experts warning that delayed intervention could increase pressure on individuals and the health system.
Hearing loss affects one in five Australians, with projections estimating that number could reach 7.8 million by 2060. Rates increase with age, affecting around half of those aged 50 to 60 and more than 80% of Australians over 80. Globally, an estimated 500 million people are living with hearing loss.
According to Audika’s 2026 Hearing Health Survey, more than half of respondents report difficulty hearing. However, nearly a third say they have never had a hearing test, while a further third have not had their hearing checked in more than three years.
The survey also found stigma remains a barrier, with almost half of respondents agreeing there is a negative perception associated with hearing loss or wearing hearing aids.
Audika audiologist Amanda Brown said the findings reflect a disconnect between recognition and response.
“We’re seeing a significant gap between acknowledgement and action. Despite Australians noticing hearing difficulties, more than three in ten people have never had a hearing test, and a third say their last check was more than three years ago,” says Amanda.
“In clinic, that translates to people presenting later than ideal, often after years of gradual change. So, the trend isn’t just about prevalence; it’s about delay. Hearing loss is common, but proactive management is not.”
Experts say emotional responses such as frustration, embarrassment and social withdrawal can further delay people from seeking help.
“Psychologically, people often minimise early signs because hearing loss is gradual. It doesn’t feel urgent and acknowledging it can feel confronting which can lead to delays seeking support,” Brown added.
“Our role as clinicians is to normalise hearing checks in the same way we do vision or dental care and making hearing health proactive rather than reactive.”
At a recent industry presentation, Thomas Behrens, Global Vice President of Audiology and Hearing Aids Research at Demant, said the development of new devices has been driven in part by the barriers that prevent people from addressing hearing loss.
“The reason why we’ve done all of this is to address some of those barriers that prevent people from starting to address their hearing loss. So that could, for instance, be a social stigma or sort of practicalities or challenges in handling the devices that that follow.”
He said newer devices are designed to combine discreet form with advanced functionality.
“What Oticon Zeal does, it’s super discreet, super robust, but packed with all the features that people need to live modern lives, so that would be not only having great sound quality, great ways of amplifying the sound for the individual hearing loss, but also artificial intelligence that cleans up the sound so that people can much better hear, for instance, speech and noise.”
Behrens said modern hearing aids are increasingly positioned as connected communication devices rather than standalone medical aids.
“A hearing aid is not like the old beige banana that they may know from the past, but now it’s this super advanced communication device.”
He also highlighted how artificial intelligence is being applied in a targeted way within hearing technology.
“What we’re doing is really purpose-built AI for specific hearing related challenges.”
As an example, he said the technology is trained extensively to recognise sound patterns.
“We teach our hearing aids to recognise speech in a noisy environment using a library of 12 million different samples that we train it on, and that would be the same as going to school for 10 years and learning something.”
Behrens said recent developments focus not only on amplifying sound but also on supporting how the brain processes auditory information.
“The brain is all the time making sense of sound, and in doing so it’s using the millions of sound impressions that it gets every second.”
He said hearing loss can disrupt this process, particularly in complex environments such as restaurants or social gatherings.
“It’s called selective attention and works super well when the brain has access to all the information it needs, but hearing loss takes away that information.”
Modern devices aim to restore access to those sound details, enabling users to better navigate noisy environments and reducing listening effort.
Behrens said early adoption trends in other markets suggest newer devices may attract a broader demographic, including younger users and more men, as well as people with less severe hearing loss.
He also said usability has been a focus in design.
“It’s actually super easy to use. It comes with a charger, and people just need to slot it into the charger. There’s magnets in the charger, for instance, that will pull it into place, make sure it sits well in charge overnight, and then it’s ready for 20 hours of operation next morning.”
Experts say that while innovation is advancing rapidly, improving public understanding and reducing stigma will be critical to encouraging earlier hearing assessments and intervention.
Audika said the device will be available through its network of more than 300 clinics across Australia. Pricing varies depending on features, with a range of options and payment plans available, as well as access to some government subsidies depending on eligibility.
IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.