Carolyn Mee

CEO, Sound Scouts

In 2011 Carolyn Mee set her sights on improving children’s hearing screening. Collaborating with the National Acoustic Laboratories, the research arm of Hearing Australia, Sound Scouts was created. 

In 2015 Sound Scouts was awarded a NSW Medical Devices Fund Grant enabling its continued development and commercialisation. In 2018 the Federal Department of Health signed a 4.5year Service agreement with Sound Scouts enabling hearing screening to be provided free of charge to all Australian schoolchildren during this period. In 2021 the company was selected for the ANDHealth+ Commercialisation program which facilitates international growth opportunities.

Carolyn has received numerous awards for her innovative achievements including the 2020 Women in Digital, Innovator of the Year Award and the 2019 Digital Health Award at the Impact Pediatric Health Competition in Austin, Texas. In 2016, Carolyn was recognised as one of the AFR Westpac 100 Women of Influence and won Gold at the Australian Computer Society Digital Disruptor Awards, and in 2017 she was nominated as a Finalist in the Innovation category for the XBOX Women in Games Awards. 

Awards are fabulous but Carolyn says the best prize is being able to change the life of a child, or adult, by detecting a hearing loss that may have prevented them from achieving their potential. To date Sound Scouts has helped to deliver over 190,000 hearing screens, many in rural and remote areas where there is limited access to hearing health services.