Nearly one hundred deaf or hearing-impaired Victorians will receive a cochlear implant after a funding boost.
More than $80 million will be given to the Eye and Ear Hospital by the Victorian government this year, which will allow the hospital to almost double the amount of cochlear implantations.
Health Minister Jill Hennessy met cochlear implant recipients Lily King and Michael Banbury on Thursday after announcing the funding boost.
Lily, who will start pre-primary this year, received her cochlear implant when she was nine months old.
Mr Banbury received his second implant in 2014 after his hearing deteriorated over many years.
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"Patients like Lily and Michael are proof of the extraordinary difference cochlear implant technology has made to people's lives and their ability to hear and communicate with their families, friends, colleagues and communities," Ms Hennessy said.
The cochlear implant was created by Australian professor Graeme Clark over 30 years ago in Melbourne and helps replace the function of a damaged inner ear.
