It was an honour to welcome NextSense Vice Patron The Hon John Howard OM AC to our centre for innovation recently as we brought together our generous donor community, partners, and people with hearing and vision loss for a special networking event hosted by science advocate and comedian Adam Spencer.

NextSense President David Dinte welcomed everyone and thanked the event’s generous sponsors—JANA Investment Advisors, St George Bank and Corporate Match 2.0, as well as other longstanding supporters and special guests, including our other Vice Patron Michael Easson AM. He also spoke about the contribution of all event attendees in supporting the efforts of NextSense. ‘The impact of our work can be seen in the stories of the many people whose lives have been transformed through our support. It's a constant reminder of why our mission is so important, and why the collective efforts of everyone here today—our supporters, our leadership team, and our partners—are vital to continuing this journey,’ he said.

Mr Howard—who has lived with hearing loss since he was a child—spoke about the value of organisations like NextSense that are constantly evolving and innovating. In particular, he acknowledged the life-changing impacts of our cochlear implant program. ‘It’s a wonderful achievement and it’s given hope to many people,’ he said. ‘Over the years this organisation has kept pace with science,’ he said. Science is not the only answer to every problem—but, gee, it makes an important contribution.’

The panellists—which included NextSense client and lawyer Olivia Depares, who has both hearing and vision loss; Professor of Human Nutrition and cochlear implant recipient Jennie Brand-Miller; and Matt Formston, a champion athlete, corporate lawyer and changemaker, who is blind— discussed their lived experiences and took questions from the audience. Each brought their own unique perspectives, sharing the challenges they have faced and opportunities they see to build a more inclusive Australia.

Matt spoke about the many benefits that people living with disability bring to the workforce, despite being underrepresented.

Olivia touched on the importance of advocating for yourself and how support should be tailored to the person receiving it.

‘The disabilities people have are so different… there’s a spectrum of that and what they need,’ she said. Olivia graduated from Macquarie University with honours in Arts and Law from Macquarie University and said that it ‘definitely showed me you can achieve everything else that everyone can achieve.’.

Jennie received her first cochlear implant at age 45 and described the challenges she faced in learning how to hear again. ‘It’s a bit like getting up from bed after 10 years of lying down. It’s not easy,’ she said. However, six months later Jennie could hear well again, has since had a second implant, and enjoys the benefits of choosing when she accesses sound—including being able to turn her implants off when she wants to avoid loud construction noise outside her home. She also said the technology enables her to hear better than many of her friends when in a crowded environment.

NextSense Chief Executive Chris Rehn thanked Mr Howard, panellists, host Adam Spencer, event sponsors and all other attendees for their contributions to the event. He reiterated the importance of society and organisations being more inclusive.