Hearing Australia posed that question in a recent survey, and for over-50s their favourite childhood sound was the inviting sound of the Mr Whippy ice cream van (46 per cent).

Remember hearing Greensleeves playing in the distance, then getting nearer and nearer ... and lining up with your friends to get a soft-serve cone, a choc-top or even a small bucket with chocolate flavouring and nuts on top?

Other favourite childhood sounds include the barbecue sizzling and, particularly for blokes, the sound of summer cricket in the backyard.

The survey revealed the songs people believe say Australia are:

I am Australian

I Still Call Australia Home

Waltzing Matilda

Down Under

Great Southern Land

Now you're humming along to at least one of those, think about the sounds that best represent Australia. Here are the top five:

Kookaburras laughing

Didgeridoo

Magpies/cockatoos squawking

Waves crashing on a beach

Cicadas

You probably have a few of your own ... rain on a tin roof, someone saying "G'day" or "fair dinkum", or the sshhht of a twist-top beer being opened.

Hearing Australia commissioned the survey to determine the importance of sound and music to people.

"Sound is very powerful," said the government-funded hearing service's principal audiologist Emma Scanlan.

"It connects us to people and to places.

"The sounds we hear can evoke different moods and feelings and remind us of experiences we associate with those sounds.

"Sound - particularly music - is one of the known triggers of memories and emotions.

"That's why keeping your hearing in great shape is so important; healthy hearing is a big part of life."

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