A hearing test in Australia costs between nothing and about $250 in 2026. Free 15 minute hearing checks are widely available. A full diagnostic assessment runs $100 to $250. Pensioners, veterans and under 26s often pay nothing.
You turned the TV up again last night, and someone in the house noticed. If you have started wondering how much a hearing test costs in Australia, that small moment is usually what sends people looking.
Maybe you have asked “what?” three times in one conversation, or you catch about half of what the grandkids say when they all talk at once.
The fee is rarely the real worry. What sits underneath is the question of what happens if the test finds something.
This guide covers the actual price ranges, what Medicare pays, who gets tested for free, and what makes one clinic dearer than the next.
What a Hearing Test Actually Costs in Australia Right Now
Here is what you can expect to pay in 2026:
| Type of appointment | Typical 2026 cost |
| Free 15 minute hearing check | $0 |
| Comprehensive adult diagnostic assessment | $100 to $250, with many clinics sitting near $168 |
| Children’s hearing assessment (private) | $85 to $150 |
| Specialist testing such as ABR or OAE | Higher, quoted case by case |
Treat those figures as indicative ranges rather than fixed prices. There is no national price list for private hearing assessments in Australia, and audiologists set their own professional fees, so two clinics in the same suburb can quote different amounts for the same appointment and both are charging correctly.
The gap between the free check and the paid assessment is the part worth understanding. A free 15 minute check is a screening. It tells you whether further testing is worth booking, and nothing more.
A comprehensive assessment usually runs close to an hour and covers your case history, an ear examination, the testing itself, a results discussion and a written report you can hand to your GP.
Specialist testing sits outside the standard price bands for practical reasons:
- Auditory brainstem response and otoacoustic emissions testing take longer than standard audiometry
- Both need different equipment and, in some cases, a different appointment setting
- Clinics quote these case by case instead of publishing a flat fee
One habit saves most of the confusion. Before you book, ask the clinic three things: what the total fee is, what tests that fee includes, and whether a Medicare rebate applies to your situation. Any reputable practice will answer all three on the phone.
Why a Free Hearing Check Is Not the Same as a Full Assessment
A hearing screening is a short pass or fail check that tells you whether you should investigate further, while a diagnostic hearing assessment measures the type, degree and configuration of hearing loss in each ear.
That difference shows up in what actually happens in the room. A full assessment starts with your case history, including noise exposure, ear infections, medications and what you personally struggle to hear, then moves to otoscopy so the audiologist can look inside your ear canal and check your eardrum.
From there you go through pure tone audiometry by both air and bone conduction, which separates a problem in the middle ear from one in the inner ear, followed by speech testing to measure how well you understand words rather than just detect tones, and tympanometry to check how your eardrum and middle ear are moving.
You finish with a results discussion and a written report you can take to your GP.
Is a Hearing Test Covered by Medicare?
Medicare pays a rebate for diagnostic audiology services when a medical practitioner refers you. Routine hearing checks and screenings fall outside that, so a walk-in test with no referral is charged in full by the clinic.
The referral pathway widened on 1 March 2023. Before that date, only an ENT specialist or a neurologist could send you for a rebatable hearing assessment, which meant a two-appointment detour for most people; now your regular GP can write the referral directly, and that single change is what put Medicare rebates within reach of the average patient.
The relevant items sit at MBS items 82300 to 82332, which cover diagnostic audiology performed by an eligible audiologist on written request from a medical practitioner.
A separate pathway exists for people managing a chronic condition with complex care needs, who can access allied health services including audiology through item 10952, arranged by their GP as part of a management plan.
Your referral needs to be current on the day you attend, and you need to physically bring it with you.
Clinics cannot claim the rebate retrospectively because you left it on the kitchen bench, so it is worth confirming the referral date when you book.
What You Still Pay After the Medicare Rebate
Diagnostic audiology services are generally not bulk billed, so the rebate reduces your fee without erasing it.
What you actually hand over is the difference between the clinic’s fee and the Medicare benefit, and that number varies from practice to practice because each one sets its own fee.
Two questions at the booking stage sort this out:
- What is the full appointment fee?
- What rebate can I expect to claim back with my referral?
The gap between those figures is your out of pocket cost, and it counts toward your Medicare Safety Net threshold for the calendar year, which matters if you are already seeing specialists regularly.
Private health extras generally cannot be claimed on a service you have claimed through Medicare, so you are choosing one funding route or the other.
Who Can Get a Free Hearing Test in Australia?
Free hearing tests are available through the Australian Government Hearing Services Program to pensioner concession card holders aged 21 and over, Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card holders, DVA White Card holders where hearing loss is specified, serving Australian Defence Force members, and people referred through a Disability Employment Service.
Pensioner concession card holders aged 21 and over
The card itself is the qualifier, and the spouse or dependant of a card holder qualifies on the same basis. Age pension, disability support pension and carer payment recipients typically hold one.
DVA Gold Card holders
Full access to the program, with no requirement to link your hearing to service.
DVA White Card holders with hearing loss specified
Eligibility depends on hearing loss being one of the accepted conditions listed on your card, so check the card before booking.
Serving Australian Defence Force members
Current serving members qualify directly, which covers regular audiometric monitoring alongside diagnostic testing.
People referred through a Disability Employment Service
A referral from a DES provider opens access, and this route often reaches working age adults who fall outside every other category.
Once you qualify, you receive a voucher rather than a booking. That voucher runs for five years, covers a comprehensive assessment with an accredited clinician, and can be used at any provider registered under the program. You choose the clinic, and you can change providers if you move or if the fit is wrong.
One card causes more confusion than anything else here. A Commonwealth Seniors Health Card does not make you eligible, despite looking and sounding like a concession card, and plenty of retirees discover this at the reception desk.
The full criteria sit on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing eligibility page, which is the only source worth trusting on this because the rules do shift.
Hearing & Audiology is a registered provider under the program, so eligible patients can use their voucher at the clinic directly. No GP referral is needed for this pathway.
Free Hearing Services Outside the Voucher Scheme
A second pathway runs through Hearing Australia under the program’s Community Service Obligations, and it reaches groups the voucher scheme does not.
Children and young people under 26 are covered, which means most families pay nothing for paediatric testing.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 and over qualify, as do people living in many remote communities where access to private audiology is limited or absent.
Eligibility here turns on age, location and circumstance rather than a card in your wallet, so the sensible move is to run your details through the official eligibility checker before assuming you fall outside it.
How Much Does a Child’s Hearing Test Cost?
For most Australian parents, nothing. Children and young people under 26 are covered through Hearing Australia’s Community Service Obligations arrangements, and newborn screening happens in hospital in every state and territory before you take your baby home.
If you go private, here is what shapes the bill.
- Paediatric assessments sit below adult fees at many clinics
- A GP referral can attract a Medicare rebate on the assessment
- Infants and toddlers usually need OAE or ABR testing, which takes longer and costs more
- School aged children can manage play audiometry or standard audiometry, which keeps the appointment shorter and the fee lower
The method your child needs depends on their age and their ability to respond, so the clinic will confirm the approach when you describe their age at booking.
Hearing & Audiology tests children of all ages at its Perth clinics in Subiaco and Duncraig, and at its Geraldton clinic.
What Makes One Clinic Cheaper Than Another
Four things move the price, and only one of them is the clinic’s postcode.
| Driver | Effect on price |
| Depth of testing performed | A four test battery costs more than air conduction audiometry alone |
| Who runs the appointment | Independent audiologists price differently to hearing aid retail chains |
| Clinic location | Metropolitan rooms carry higher overheads than regional practices |
| What the fee covers | A written report and a full results consultation add clinician time |
Some free tests exist as the front door to a hearing aid sale, and the appointment is structured accordingly, with results delivered as a recommendation rather than a set of measurements you can take away. Ask two things before you commit.
Is the clinic independent of any device manufacturer, and will you receive a copy of your full audiogram to keep? A practice confident in its testing hands over the results without hesitation.
Waiting has a cost of its own. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that around 3.9 million people, roughly one in six Australians, were living with a chronic ear condition in 2022, which puts hearing among the most common long term health conditions in the country.
Most of those people noticed something years before they acted on it. Details sit in the AIHW’s Australia’s health report.
Three questions settle the cost question when you call.
- What is the total fee for the appointment?
- Which tests does that fee include?
- Will I get a copy of my results?
Workers Compensation, Insurance and Employer Funded Tests
If your hearing loss relates to workplace noise, the assessment is usually billed to the employer or insurer rather than to you.
Industrial deafness assessments support compensation claims and follow a prescribed testing format, while pre employment audiometry establishes a baseline before you start in a noisy role.
Clinics need appropriate WorkCover registration in their state to perform this testing and have it accepted.
Check that registration before booking, since an assessment from an unregistered provider may not be recognised by the insurer.
Key Takeaway
What you pay for a hearing test in Australia comes down to which funding pathway you qualify for. The range runs from nothing to about $250.
Pensioners, veterans and Australians under 26 often pay nothing at all, and for everyone else, a GP referral unlocks a Medicare rebate on a diagnostic assessment.
Call Hearing & Audiology or book online to confirm your exact cost and eligibility before your appointment.