The Shepherd Centre opens new $6m facility for hearing-impaired children in Macarthur

A brand new specialist centre has opened and offers “life-changing” support for children and families navigating hearing loss in southwestern Sydney, at no cost to families.

The Shepherd Centre's new $6m Oran Park facility provides specialist support services to hearing impaired children at no cost to families. Picture: Inasha Iftekhar

A brand new multimillion dollar specialist centre for hearing-impaired children has opened its doors to Macarthur families, helping bridge the urgent lack of health care services in the region.

The Shepherd Centre’s $6m state-of-the-art facility was recently unveiled at Oran Park with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as one of its first visitors.

The centre provides “life-changing” support services through various specialists including audiologists, listening and spoken language speech pathologists and family counsellors.

These services are offered at no cost to families through a combination of NDIS funding and generous community donations.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the multimillion dollar state-of-the-art hearing centre in Oran Park. Picture: Supplied

The 450sq m facility is triple the size of their previous facility, featuring five therapy rooms, an audiology booth, a large play area, two meeting rooms, a reception area, office space and 14 underground car spaces.

Despite three out of every 1000 children being diagnosed with hearing loss by school age, only about 40 per cent access specialist services.

Large play area for children at The Shepherd Centre in Oran Park. Picture: Inasha Iftekhar

One of two meeting rooms in brand new 450sq m hearing centre. Picture: Inasha Iftekhar

“90 per cent of babies born with hearing impairment are to hearing parents, so quite often they will be dealing with that shock and also have a lot of uncertainty about what their child needs,” the centre’s regional manager Stephanie Ingram said.

Local mother Nazrin echoed those feelings in her experience with her one-year-old son Kadir, who underwent cochlear implant surgery at seven months.

With no known history from either parent, she said the diagnosis was unexpected. But with the support from The Shepherd Centre, Kadir is now able to communicate like any other one-year-old.

Nazrin brings in Kadir weekly for sessions with his speech pathologist, audiologist and group music sessions with other families. Picture: Inasha Iftekhar

“He has music matters (class), group sessions, and pretty much everything that helps him to enhance his language and spoken skills … to go towards that goal where he can go to a normal school in the future,” she said.

Living in Campbelltown, Nazrin also appreciates the convenience of the Oran Park location for travelling with a young child and pram.

“He’s built a bond with Sahana, his speech therapist, and looks forward to coming here every week because he can play at the same time,” Nazrin said.

The Shepherd Centre’s CEO Dr Aleisha Davis emphasised the importance of the new facility in providing crucial support to families in their local community at no cost, taking “away all the barriers of access”.

“Every day counts for little people with hearing loss. The research shows us (and) the parents tell us what an easier and better journey it is for them,” Dr Davis said.

The hearing clinic offers services to families for free to enable convenient and local access in Macarthur. Picture: Supplied

The power of tailored early intervention methods in equipping hearing-impaired children with the tools to live “normally” was demonstrated by the centre’s 2023 alumni, all of whom attended schools of their choice.

Located at LPC House, Suite 201/3 Fordham Way, Oran Park, the centre currently has no waiting list for patients, offering immediate access to its services.

To help keep these services available at no cost to families, The Shepherd Centre is holding a ‘Giving Day’ fundraiser to raise $210,000. The Shepherd Centre will also match every donation received to double the total amount raised; donations can be made online or via post.