Our Board Members
Meet Our Board
The BHA WA Board is a volunteer Board helping adults on their Hearing Loss Journey to achieve better hearing. We rely upon the generosity of our membership base to ensure our rich development and continued relevance to the community we serve, namely those on their hearing loss journey.
Board members are appointed by members voting at each Annual General Meeting (AGM). Under our Constitution rules, there are limits to how long a member can occupy various positions to ensure the organization’s renewal over time. On the other hand, the stability of Boards can be most helpful in ensuring follow-through on longer-term policies and projects.
We have been able to attract a high-calibre group of individuals who are enjoying offering their skills to help BHA WA remain relevant and proactive as a member of Better Hearing Australia (Inc.), one of Australia’s largest volunteer-based support groups for those of us on our hearing loss journey.
Audrey Harris-Brown, Chair
Audrey has been a contributor and member at BHA WA as an Auslan teacher, and became Chair in 2023. Her energy, leadership, and experience are invaluable to us. She writes: She writes:
I joined Better Heaing WA to contribute my skills with Auslan and teaching. This has snowballed and I am now pleased to be the chairperson and able to carry on the good work of the previous committees. This includes a focus on brain training, as well as the four pillars of SOCIAL, PHYSICAL, MENTAL and CREATIVE activities which we now now are so helpful to those of us ‘Late Deaf’ adults, who might otherwise allow social isolation and even dementia to creep into our lives when we could be engaging in BHA’s valuable and useful activities.
Sarah Brown, Treasurer
As my hearing decreases learning to lip read is important for me. In my 70s and I started to wear hearing aids. I joined BHA(WA) in 2020 and our lip reading classes are a joy. It is so affirming to be with others who understand the problems of hearing loss. I progress slowly!
I have been treasurer to 2 smaller organisations, luckily now I have the help of other board members… I am on a steep learning curve, keeping all on a computer!
Larry Davenport, Secretary
Larry loves challenges which is why we are so pleased to have him on our Board. Although he has a wheelchair he prefers not to use it if he can. He also has hearing aids but he prefers to use the hearing aids all the time, especially as research reminds us that hearing aids improve the level of sound coming in to our brain, and that makes the brain’s job much easier than going without. His background is…
Shelley London, Memberships
Shelley has severe hearing loss and joined BHA WA in order to learn lipreading. She has found being involved with BHA.wa a great way to connect with others with hearing loss and we are very pleased she has agreed to join the committee as Membership Secretary.
John Harvey, Committe member
; John is a retired engineer who has noise induced hearing loss from many years working in power generation, hard rock mining and energy. He has 3 adult children and he and his wife are extremely proud of their infant granddaughter. Outside family, John’s passions include golf and renewable energy; and he is an avid football and baseball fan. He enjoys managing projects to keep BHA WA solvent!
Dr. Barnard Clarkson, ViceChair
Barnard is a proud grandfather, dad, and husband; and still works as an honorary ECU researcher. He often brings research-based stories and news to classes, that end up on our News pages
As vice-chair since 2015, he has contributed to many projects, from helping run the 2015 National Conference in Freo to encouraging our Lipreading WebApp (since 2016, the first Australian-accented lip reading app) and supporting Barbara’s Q Sign Project (with Phase 2 in train) — assisting care staff by teaching them just 20 Auslan signs to build communication with their clients.
Barbara Alcock, ex-Officio past Chair
Barbara has supported BH.wa for a number of years both as a Board member and as our Lead Lipreading teacher. Her projects like the Lottery-West-funded QSign Project have shown that BHA is a vibrant and research-aware organisation with a long future.
At Better Hearing WA, we believe that every voice matters and that together we can create a supportive community for those on their hearing loss journey. Our Board is not just a group of individuals; we are a collective of passionate advocates dedicated to enhancing the lives of adults on their hearing loss journey. We understand the unique challenges faced by our members and happily provide resources, education, and a sense of belonging. Our initiatives focus on fostering connections, sharing knowledge, and empowering individuals to embrace their hearing journey with confidence. Join us in our mission to make a difference, as we strive to ensure that no one has to navigate their hearing loss alone.
Special Mention – Prof. Coates: Patron of Better Hearing WA
Clinical Professor Harvey Coates spent his working life as a Paediatric Otolaryngologist and Clinical Professor at the University of Western Australian School of Paediatrics and Child Health.
His main research interests are in translational research in otitis media. He has worked on the genetics of otitis media, bacterial biofilm, and the Kalgoorlie Swimming Pool Study with international NIH and NHMRC collaborative research grants, particularly for bacterial biofilm in otitis media, including a major Grant from the GPRWMF.
With the Foundation’s assistance, he developed the first large-scale newborn hearing program in WA in 2000. He works annually with WHO and was co-founder of the first Australasian Paediatric ORL society. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (2005) for his work on ear disease in Aboriginal children as well as receiving other awards, including the Fiona Stanley Medal (2001), ASOHNS Humanitarian Award (2014), and the inaugural RACS Indigenous Health Medal (2015).
His most recent efforts relate to being on the Commonwealth Government’s Hearing Health Sub-Committee, producing a Roadmap for Ear and Hearing Health. He has lectured internationally at Harvard, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt universities, Mayo Clinic, and numerous conferences and has over 100 peer-reviewed publications.