After years of planning and construction, the NextSense centre for innovation is now seeing clients and has opened the doors to its new School and Preschool.

The custom-built space, designed specifically for people with hearing and vision loss, is a new home for our national operations. It will be an important location for delivering services but will also better connect the work we do across our 20 sites nationally.

It will help us build new connections beyond our own walls, with like-minded organisations in service delivery, education, research, government and industry. And we will continue longstanding partnerships, such as the strong connection we already have with Macquarie University and our partners at the Australian Hearing Hub.

The new collaborations we build will see us playing an even greater role in expanding the knowledge base in hearing and vision loss. We will design new techniques and approaches to benefit our own clients and people with hearing and vision loss more broadly.

Respecting the traditional custodians

An important part of moving to our new site was the opportunity to respect its history.

We were delighted that Uncle Chris Tobin agreed to conduct a smoking ceremony and acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which our new centre is built—the Wallumattagal people of the Dharug Nation.

Uncle Chris spoke eloquently to our staff and students about the important connections between place and culture.

Welcoming our Vice Regal Patrons

We also received a welcome visit from our Vice Regal Patrons His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), Governor-General of Australia, and Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley.

Their Excellencies were treated to a tour of our custom-designed therapy and collaboration spaces and witnessed our amazing School students in action. It was a great pleasure to host them, and we are grateful for their longstanding patronage and support.

State-of-the-art building design

The building has been built with people who have hearing and vision loss front-of-mind. Touch was considered in every element of the design and there are unique installations such as a cochlear touch table to explain how a cochlear implant gives access to sound. The audiology sound booths and facilities are also best-in-class.

Hearing augmentation is integrated across the building spaces and the School and Preschool include sensory active and retreat areas, a sensory garden, and a state-of-the-art evacuation system incorporating light, text, and sound. The building has been designed according to best practice environmentally sustainable design principles.