Hearing

An open captioning service to enhance the experience of customers who are deaf or have hearing loss is offered for selected performances at the Sydney Opera House. Captions are text descriptions that are displayed on a screen inside the venue.

An Auslan Interpretation service to enhance the experience of customers who are deaf or have hearing loss is offered for selected performances at the Sydney Opera House. Experienced Auslan theatre interpreters on stage translate dialogue or lyrics into Auslan.

Surtitles in English are projected above the Joan Sutherland Theatre stage for most opera productions. Additional surtitle screens have been installed at the front of the venue so that they may be read from the wheelchair seating area and nearby seats.  This view is available from Row D, Seats 14 & 36 outwards, Row E seats 14 and 36 outwards, and from the entire row in Rows F and G. 

Some seats in the venue are not able to view the surtitles so please advise Box Office of your requirements when booking tickets.

The Sydney Opera House provides two services to improve listening clarity for people with hearing loss who experience difficulty and fatigue when trying to understand speech because of distance, reverberation and background noise.

Audio input or any electronic sound source feeds into an FM transmitter and the FM radio frequency signal is picked up by the patrons FM receiver. FM receivers and headsets are provided free of charge and can be obtained from the nearest cloakroom prior to the performance.

This service has full coverage in all venues except the Utzon Room and Centre for Creativity. Please inquire at the Cloak Room for this service.

A Hearing Loop provides an in-floor magnetic field which emits a wireless signal.  To receive the signal directly a patron can switch their hearing aid or cochlear implant processor to the T Switch, or Telecoil position.

A Hearing Loop is available in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, Concert Hall,  Playhouse and Drama Theatre with 80% or more coverage of the venue. A Hearing Loop is also available in the Utzon Room and Centre for Creativity when the events are amplified.

The following areas of the below venues receive Hearing Loop coverage:

• Joan Sutherland Theatre: all rows except Stalls Row A
• Drama Theatre: all rows except A, B, C, H, P
• Playhouse: Full coverage
• Concert Hall:   
  - Stalls: All rows except A, B, C, D, E
  - Dress Circle: All rows except A
  - Boxes: All except Box B, Seats 59-68
  - Choir Section: All rows except C

Please inquire at the Cloak Room for this service.

For patrons who find that their hearing aid is unable to connect to the in-floor signal, venues that have the FM Augmentation System offer a personal induction loop that connects to a FM Device. This is worn around the neck and can be obtained from the nearest cloakroom prior to the performance.

A Hearing Loop is also installed at the main Box Office counter windows. This amplifies Box Office staff and customer voices to assist when making enquires or booking tickets.

Thank you to the Yarranabbe Foundation

Please join us in thanking the Yarranabbe Foundation, an Opera House Utzon Idealist major donor, which has enabled upgrades to the induction loops in the Drama Theatre and the Joan Sutherland Theatre for the benefit of our patrons with hearing loss.

Those customers who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment can call through the National Relay Service at no cost: TTY users, phone 133 677 then ask for  9250 7111; Speak & Listen users (speech-to-speech relay), phone 1800 555 727 then ask for 9250 7111 and Internet relay users, connect to the NRS – see accesshub.gov.au/about-the-nrs for details – and then ask for 9250 7111.