The purpose of this paper is to briefly review some of the aspects of the auditory brainstem response (ABR) that are important in its use as a method of screening and assessing hearing in the neonate. The paper starts by considering the technical limitations of click ABR and explores the alternative electrophysiological methods. It then considers where ABR is required in the screening of neonates. The role of bone conduction ABR in estimating the conductive component of any hearing loss is discussed. Finally, the ability of the neonatal ABR to predict the long-term audiometric outcome of permanently hearing-impaired children is considered.