Over the decades, we’ve embraced innovation while never losing sight of what matters most, people and their ability to connect through communication. Today, our team of audiologists, speech pathologists, and listening and spoken language specialists deliver services in our centres, in schools, and online, ensuring everyone has access to expert care, no matter where they live.
At Hear and Say, we believe that communication is the heart of human connection. Our story is still being written every time a baby hears their parent’s voice for the first time, a child says their first word, or an adult reconnects with loved ones through better hearing.
We continue to lead the way in hearing and speech services, combining over 30 years of expertise with the latest research and technology, supporting thousands of babies, children, and adults every year.
In 1991, Dr Dimity Dornan AO was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) in Canada. Her vision was simple but powerful: to create a not-for-profit service in Brisbane where children who were deaf or hard of hearing could learn to listen and speak.
With a seed grant from The Shepherd Centre in Sydney and the support of ENT surgeons and audiologists launching Queensland’s first cochlear implant program, Dimity’s dream became a reality.
On 6 July 1992, Hear and Say opened its doors in a spare room of a Brisbane physiotherapy clinic, supporting just six children. At the time, newborn hearing screening didn’t exist, and many children were diagnosed far too late. But with the introduction of the first Australian paediatric cochlear implant in the late 1980s, everything changed – and Hear and Say brought this groundbreaking technology and therapy to Queensland for the very first time.
The name “Hear and Say” was chosen to reflect our core belief: that children with hearing loss can learn to listen and speak.
Our butterfly icon became a symbol of transformation – of opening a world of sound and possibility. Once thought to be deaf, butterflies can sense sound through their wings, just as cochlear implants open new pathways for our clients.
In 2011, plans were announced to build a new Brisbane centre.
Thanks to Project Possibility, a $10 million fundraising campaign supported by generous donors, community organisations, and government partners, our renovated centre in Ashgrove officially opened in 2015.
Now, with more than 30 years of service, Hear and Say has grown into a leader in hearing and speech services for babies, children, and adults.
Technology continues to advance, babies are diagnosed earlier than ever, and our knowledge of the brain and auditory system has deepened. But some things will never change:
“Hear and Say began with a dream,” says Dr Dimity Dornan AO.
“That dream continues today, bigger, brighter, and reaching more people than ever before.”
Learn more about Hear and Say’s fascinating role in Queensland’s history by purchasing a copy of Sounds of Hope, written by Madonna King.
