Membership benefits

Benefits of Optometry Australia membership

Membership with Optometry Australia (OA) means you are part of Australia’s largest community of optometry professionals and because of this, you are never alone. We provide the networks, tools, support and guidance for your professional success.

In our last member survey (Oct 2021), 94% of members said they considered OA to be member-focused, 86% cited they would highly or likely recommend membership and 85% believed that the services delivered provided them with good value for money. Trust in the organisation also rose to 96%.

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Members cite the following as the top five services that they receive:

1. Automatic premium professional indemnity insurance cover

Our PII covers you for life with one-on-one support in the event of a malpractice claim or patient complaint. Our policy also covers you wherever you work in Australia, paid or unpaid and exceeds Ahpra’s registration requirements. And, as a member you have access to a confidential medico-legal hotline as well as access to our confidential optometry advisory help desk.

2. Complimentary access a comprehensive program of quality education (CPD)

Accessible through our Institute of Excellence, our education portfolio includes regular live webcasts and interactive workshops and an extensive library of on-demand webcasts, podcasts, clinical guidelines and publications. As a member, we automatically upload hours of any CPD course that you complete and that has been quality assured by Optometry Australia.

3. Access to a confidential optometry advisory help desk

Members can call our help desk Monday-Friday for one-on-one advice such as private billing, Medicare, private health insurance, patient complaints, audits, CPD or any other subject where you need support and advice.

4. Our advocacy programs

We strongly lobby and campaign for policy changes that will ensure optometrists are working at their full scope while our long-term planning through Optometry 2040, is guiding the sector’s evolution and sustainability; and

5. Our marketing campaigns

Our campaigns are aimed at increasing awareness of eye health amongst Australians whilst motivating regular visit to an optometrist throughout life. Our marketing programs include our Good vision for life campaign, Find an Optometrist search platform accessible through our corporate and consumer websites, patient brochures and marketing support materials.

In addition to these top five services, members can also access a comprehensive range of additional services and benefits including:

1. Human resources support

• Complimentary HR helpline: available for all members including employer, employee and locum optometrists Monday to Friday.
• Contract negotiations and advice: state divisions and/or our optometry advisors are available to assist with contract reviews and negotiations and general HR advice.

2. Career and personal development support and programs

• Coaching and mentoring: facilitated through an online platform, coaches and mentors are matched according to personal goals, not by location.
• Travel scholarships: our Looking Outward on Optometric Knowledge (LOOK) scholarship program offers members the opportunity to investigate advancements in overseas markets of optometric clinical and patient management and/or eye health disease.

3. Leadership development through:

• Governance training: Our Governance, Oversight, Leadership and Development (GOLD) program: providing governance skills to optometrists to enable them to confidentiality hold leadership roles on boards both within the optometry sector and in the broader health sector.
• Think Tanks: each state division supports and oversees an early career optometrists (ECO) group and annually Optometry Australia brings representatives from each ECO group together for facilitated discussions, experience sharing and skills development.
• Student leadership: annually a group of students enter our Student Leadership Program created to provide them with the skills needed to become future optometry leaders.
• Committees and advisory group participation: opportunity to join subject specific groups or committees that discuss and develop strategies for the progression of the sector.

4. High quality clinical publications

• Automatic, complimentary access to Optometry Connection, our peer-reviewed journal Clinical and Experimental Optometryand topic-specific publications such as the Contact Lens Resource Guide.

5. Patient and clinical guidelines, standards and practice management tools

• We have an extensive library of patient and clinical management guidelines for the diagnosis and management of eye conditions and eye diseases, infection control, telehealth and more.
• Practice management tools, such as our private fee calculator and practice management audit tool, are accessible to all members.

6. Quality regular communications

• All members receive regular communications from both the national organisation (news and information applicable to the optometry sector and members as a whole), as well as their state divisions (highlighting state initiatives).

Join Optometry Australia today