Otitis media can adversely impact speech, language, and communication development. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children are disproportionately vulnerable to otitis media with families frequently encountering barriers when accessing speech pathology services. To counteract these barriers there is a need to involve Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders in service provision, one way to achieve this being through caregiver report tools. Currently, literature exploring the use of caregiver report tools for this population is scarce. The study aimed to document caregiver reports of hearing and speech, language, and communication, and to determine if these reports had a relationship with tympanometry and audiometry measures. The study followed a quantitative, cross-sectional design, collecting data (the Hearing and Talking Scale, Parent-evaluated Listening and Understanding Measure, and Djaalinj Waakinj “Talking” and “Quality of Life” subsections) from 134 caregivers participating in the larger Telethon Kids Institute Djaalinj Waakinj Ear Portal Project. 58.96% of caregivers rated their child’s talking as “not on track” or “borderline”, with no significant relationship to hearing results. Statistically significant correlations were found between ratings on the Hearing and Talking Scale and the Parent- evaluated Listening and Understanding Measure, in addition to the Hearing and Talking Scale and the Djaalinj Waakinj OM-6 ‘Talking’ subsection. No relationship was indicated between caregiver reports of hearing loss and hearing test results. This study concluded that many caregivers reported concerns surrounding their child’s speech, language, and communication. No significant relationships were found between subjective caregiver reports of hearing and objective audiology results, nor caregiver reports of talking and audiology results.

Families play a necessary role in the development and progression towards speech, language and communication goals within their cultural context
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children's language capacity require further emphasis and resourcing in SP practice
OM continues to adversely impact developmental outcomes however an establish community led audiology and speech pathology service can address these concerns and lead to a valued service model.

This project was initiated by and continues to be supported by a respected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group. The Aboriginal Health workers leading the service delivery and data collection have 10+ years established connections within community. The non- Aboriginal researchers engaged in various informal and formal cultural training opportunities and practiced within the NHMRC ethical conduct for research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples guidelines.