When should an infant/child be referred to an audiologist for a diagnostic audiology hearing test?

• If a parent, carer or health care provider have concerns about the infant's hearing, speech, language or communication development
• When an infant/child has a risk factor for hearing loss

If the infant or child is already under the care of an audiologist they do not need to be referred again.

VIHSP does not

• provide diagnostic audiology services
• organise diagnostic audiology services post newborn hearing screening

How do I make a referral to a paediatric diagnostic audiology centre?

1. Find an audiology centre appropriate for the infant and family needs

• Registered Audiologists can be found at the Audiology Australia website
• Paediatric Audiology Centres list in Victoria (updated 04/10/2024)
  • This list may not include all paediatric audiology providers in Victoria
  • Phone and website details are included on the list. Most websites outline specific referral criteria and billing arrangements
  • Inclusion on this list does not include endorsement by VIHSP.

Note:

• Audiology centres operate independently from VIHSP
• Centres can be run privately, hospital or community based or hospital contracted

2. Check the criteria below with the selected audiology centre as these can be different for each centre

This is a critical step as referrals can be rejected if the Audiology Centre's referral criteria is not met.

• Ages of infants/children seen at the service
• Who can make the referral - parent, GP, MCH nurse, other health professional
• What information is essential on the referral (e.g. a named audiology provider)
• What referral form is required by that service (many have a downloadable form)
• How the referral should be forwarded to the audiology service (e.g. online, hardcopy, fax, email etc)
• Applicable fees or billing arrangements

3. Complete the appropriate referral form

• Audiology centre specific forms (accessible from centre websites)
• Minimum information for referrals to non-admitted specialist services 

4. Send the completed referral form to the Audiology centre or hand to the parent/guardian to contact the Audiology centre to make an appointment.

Please do not sent the form to VIHSP as VIHSP does not provide or arrange diagnostic audiology services post screening.