About Us

Our goal is to support and promote best practice in Vision Hearing Screening services and build the competency of all Technicians participating in the National Vision and Hearing Screening Programme.

The Vision Hearing Screening Programme
The Vision Hearing Screening programme is a national public health programme that identifies the vision and hearing problems of specific targeted age groups in New Zealand children.

Our focus is the detection and referral of children with identified hearing and vision problems to appropriate agencies for assessment and or intervention. This minimises the impact of hearing and vision problems on the child’s overall development.

Vision Hearing Technicians:

• test the vision and hearing of children aged 4 (Before School Check) and Year-7 Vision Screening
• refer children who have hearing or vision problems to the appropriate public health professionals for further assessment and or treatment
• work for the Ministry of Health, under the Ministry’s National Vision and Hearing Screening Programme.

We work with:

• Parents and caregivers
• Plunket
• Teachers – early childhood and school
• Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) and General Practitioners (GPs)
• Public Health Nurses
• Ear Nurses
• Optometrists
• Ophthalmologists (eye specialists)
• Paediatricians
• Audiologists
• Otolaryngologists (head and neck specialists, including for the ears, nose, and throat).

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