A new national survey of more than 3,000 Australians, including 1,002 in NSW and the ACT, finds that when asked to pick their favourite Australian sound, 45% in the region choose a kookaburra laughing. Of the sounds tested, waves crashing at the beach is the most loved in NSW and the ACT (90% like or love it) and a mosquito buzzing in your ear is the most loathed (23% name it the sound they loathe most). The results land as the WestConnex tunnel in Sydney is lit up on Friday 16 October in honour of Loud Shirt Day.

The sounds of NSW and the ACT

• Kookaburra at dawn: 74% like or love it, just ahead of rain on a tin roof (73%) and a sausage sizzle (70%)
• Sound of home: birdsong (33%), magpies (19%) and kookaburras (17%) top the unprompted responses. In South Australia and the NT, magpies lead with 46%
• Final siren at the footy: 35% like or love it, compared with 50% in Victoria and Tasmania
• Revving engines: repeatedly revving a car or motorbike is considered the most unacceptable sound behaviour in a shared public place (22%)
• Nationally: waves crashing at the beach is also the most loved sound (90%) and a mosquito buzz the most loathed (24% name it)

The sounds we love and loathe are part of everyday Australian life. This Loud Shirt Day, Australians are being asked to Get Loud to help children with hearing loss access the specialist support and opportunities they need to communicate, connect and thrive. One in every 1,000 Australian babies are born with hearing loss, and for every one of them a further two children develop hearing loss before they start school. That’s the message behind Loud Shirt Day, returning on Friday 16 October 2026. Workplaces, schools and communities across Australia will burst into a sea of vibrant colour, bright patterns and bold prints to raise awareness and vital funds for children with hearing loss and their families all across Australia and New Zealand. This year the fundraising target is $500,000. Every dollar raised will help children access life-changing audiology services and therapy support, empowering them to communicate, connect and reach their full potential.

“Loud Shirt Day is a wonderful opportunity for people across New South Wales and beyond to come together to raise funds and awareness of hearing loss and the incredible difference that specialised early support can make for children who are deaf or hard of hearing – whether they have access to sound or not, or experience sound differently.” Chris Rehn, Chief Executive, NextSense and Co-Chair of First Voice commented “This research, and every loud shirt worn in New South Wales, helps spark important conversations.”

“Every deaf child deserves the opportunity to communicate, connect and thrive. We know that when children and families can access the right technology and specialist support early, it can have an extraordinary impact on their development, confidence and future. Loud Shirt Day helps us continue creating those opportunities for children and families across Australia.” Dr Aleisha Davis, CEO of The Shepherd Centre and Co-Chair of First Voice commented.

Six-year-old Isabella from Sydney uses hearing aids to help her hear.

“My hearing aids are things that help me hear – and they don’t make me any different,” says Isabella.

Isabella’s hearing loss was identified during her newborn hearing screening, and she received her first hearing aids shortly afterwards. She has been supported by NextSense since she was a baby. As a toddler, she began attending an early intervention group program at NextSense to foster her communication and language development, and she continues to receive speech pathology support at school. When she’s not dedicating her time to the Loud Shirt Day cause by making her very own tie-dyed t-shirt and pet bandana line, Isabella loves drawing, playing netball, and joining her family on dog-sledding adventures.

“Early support for Isabella’s listening, language and social skills has helped ensure she had the foundations there for when she transitioned into primary school,” says her mum, Nicole.

Mia and Halle are sisters who were born profoundly deaf, with no family history of hearing loss, now both live with cochlear implants (Wollongong, NSW)

Every morning, sisters Mia, 13, and Halle, 12, from Wollongong in NSW, put on their cochlear implants, which they’ve nicknamed their “buds”.

“We call them buds because they’re our buddies,” says Mia.

“It feels like a normal part of our lives,” adds Halle. “Just like waking up, putting the buds on.”

Mia didn’t pass her newborn hearing screen. With no family history of hearing loss, her parents, Tara and Drew, suddenly faced a world they knew nothing about. Mia was diagnosed with moderate hearing loss and started early intervention at The Shepherd Centre’s Wollongong centre when she was just a few months old. When Halle was born a year later, she didn’t pass her hearing screen either. Both girls received cochlear implants shortly before turning three, and today each wears two implants, one in each ear. Now they are lively, confident young teenagers who love school, books and dancing, and who’ve been with many of the same friends since preschool.

“What I’m most proud of is learning to talk, learning to read,” says Mia.

Their mum, Tara, says seeing a video of a six-year-old with cochlear implants speaking clearly at a babies’ group at The Shepherd Centre changed everything. “Once I saw a child talking, I was blown away,” she says. She describes the care and support given to her daughters as “crucial” in enabling her girls to be who and where they are today.

The girls want people to know that hearing loss doesn’t define what they can do.

Mia says what has helped most is having her sister beside her: “Things can be hard and you can get through it with one person by your side.”

One in every 1,000 Australian babies are born with hearing loss, and for every one of them a further two children develop hearing loss before they start school. With the right support, including early access to hearing technology and specialist services, children with hearing loss can achieve remarkable outcomes. Many can develop age-appropriate listening and spoken language skills and begin school ready to learn, connect and participate alongside their peers. Without appropriate and timely support, hearing loss can affect speech and language development, literacy, confidence and social connection. For more than 90 per cent of families, their child is born into a family with no prior experience of hearing loss. Loud Shirt Day helps ensure these families can access the specialist support they need. For more information