Building resilient regional and remote Queensland communities.
Our Stories
The RETAIN Program
In Australia, 4 in every 1,000 children are diagnosed with hearing loss at the start of primary school. In addition to physical equipment like hearing aids or cochlear implants, many of these children require specialist listening and spoken language therapy to achieve educational and social outcomes in line with their peers. Accessing such therapy is particularly challenging in regional and remote communities where the nearest trained therapist may be several hundred kilometres away.
Recognising this need, QCoal Foundation partnered with Hear and Say in 2021 to launch the RETAIN (REgional TArgeted INtervention) program. The innovative initiative used telepractice technology to connect school-aged children with hearing loss to specialist therapy services, regardless of where they live.
Over the four-year trial, the program provided specialised speech and language support to more than 100 children across regional Queensland, including communities such as Townsville, Ayr, Aramac, Beaudesert, Gympie and the Wide Bay region. The results were overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating that telepractice can deliver strong clinical outcomes while removing many of the barriers associated with distance and travel.
Clinical data collected throughout the trial showed that 76% of RETAIN participants scored within or above the average range for language development, helping children build the listening, speech and language skills needed to access the school curriculum and participate fully in everyday life.
The impact is best illustrated through the stories of families who participated in the program. Children such as Emily from Aramac and Billy from Ayr accessed regular therapy through telepractice, helping them strengthen their communication skills, improve academic outcomes and build confidence in their daily lives. Their experiences demonstrate the life-changing potential of early intervention for children with hearing loss.
Beyond direct support for children and families, the program helped develop new telepractice clinical protocols, strengthen referral pathways and expand regional networks for Hear and Say. Learnings from the trial have influenced Hear and Say’s broader service delivery model and contributed to the opening of new regional centres in Rockhampton and Toowoomba. Children living in metropolitan areas also benefited from the program’s learnings, meaning RETAIN positively impacted over 400 children state-wide.
As the trial concluded, the RETAIN model is being incorporated into Hear and Say’s ongoing services, ensuring that regional and remote children continue to have access to the specialist support they need. The partnership stands as a powerful example of how innovation, collaboration and targeted philanthropy can help ensure no child is left behind in their hearing and speech development, no matter where they live.
