Cafe & Chat Sessions

Born profoundly hearing loss, Max Harpham’s journey has been one of resilience, determination, and a deep passion for helping others navigate their own hearing challenges. In this special Cafe & Chat session on 22 August 2024, Max shares his personal story—from receiving his first cochlear implant at just 5.5 months old to his experiences growing up, facing communication challenges, and ultimately finding his path in speech and hearing sciences.

HMA Life Member and 2015 Libby Harricks Achievement Awardee, Andrew Stewart, from Hearing Connections, brings a unique perspective to hearing technology—both as a professional and as someone with lived experience. In this interactive session, Andrew Stewart shared his expertise on Remote Personal Microphones, offering practical insights, hands-on demonstrations, and tips on how these devices can enhance communication in everyday situations.

In this interactive session, Andrew shared his expertise on hearing loop systems, offering practical insights, and tips on how these devices can enhance communication in everyday situations.

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Established in 2008 by Professor Philip Newall and Cristy Newall, the Samoa Program aims to provide hearing aids to children and young adults in Samoa. Since its inception, Philip, Cristy, and a team of dedicated volunteers have traveled to Samoa 24 times. As of 2024, they have conducted 923 hearing assessments, 608 hearing aid appointments, 430 hearing aid fittings, and 13 fittings of bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHAs) on softbands.

On April 23, 2024, our Café and Chat session welcomed guest speakers Professor Philip Newall and Cristy Newall, who shared their experiences with the Samoa Program and offered valuable insights.

To support this Samoa program, HMA has expanded our Hearing Aid Bank program by establishing a volunteering team alongside with Macquarie University Speech and Hearing Sciences bachelor student and Master of Clinical Audiology students.

At this session, Christine Hunter shares her personal journey of living with severe hearing loss since the age of five — a path that ultimately led her to represent Australia at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during the 17th session of the Conference of States Parties to the UN CRPD (COSP17), held from 11–13 June 2024.

Under the COSP17 theme, “Rethinking disability inclusion in the current international juncture and ahead of the Summit of the Future,” Christine reflects on the challenges and progress in advocating for the rights of people with hearing loss.