Optometry Australia is the national peak body for optometry, supporting optometrists in every state and territory as one national organisation. As a registered health promotion charity, we are focused on improving community eye health, and we remain what we should be: led by optometrists, for optometrists.
As outlined in our Strategic Future work, our structure is designed to be more connected, more member-focused and more responsive to the evolving needs of the profession, with clarity of purpose across education, clinical leadership, advocacy, operations and engagement. We are governed by a national Board, currently the inaugural Transitional Board overseeing the establishment of the new organisation.
In 2026, Optometry Australia entered a new chapter in its long history as the national professional association for optometrists.
Through the Strategic Future project, Optometry Australia and the five State Divisions unified into one national organisation, bringing together the former federation into a single, stronger professional body for optometry in Australia.
This change was designed to strengthen the way we support members, represent the profession and promote community eye health. By moving from multiple separate organisations to one national entity, Optometry Australia is better placed to speak with a clear and coordinated voice, reduce duplication, invest in services and respond to the changing needs of optometrists, patients and the broader health system.
While our structure has changed, our purpose remains clear: to unite, lead, engage and promote optometry, optometrists and community eye health.
The unified Optometry Australia continues to support members across every state and territory through national advocacy, professional development, professional indemnity insurance, clinical and professional resources, member support services, public awareness campaigns, events and local engagement.
Local perspectives remain central to the organisation. State Advisory Bodies and local engagement mechanisms help ensure the views and needs of optometrists across Australia continue to inform our work, while the national structure gives those local voices greater reach, coordination and influence.
Strategic Future marks an important step in building a more sustainable, connected and future-focused professional association — one that can better support optometrists today and help shape the future of eye health and vision care for all Australians.
Optometry Australia’s history reflects more than a century of state-based representation and national collaboration.
Following the formation of optometry associations in each state, a national association — today Optometry Australia — was established in 1918, with the state associations as its members.
For many decades, this federated model supported local representation while enabling national coordination for the profession. Over time, the Federation continued to evolve, with discussions about closer collaboration and unification occurring across several decades.
Recent steps included the unification of Optometry Victoria and Optometry South Australia in 2019, the integration of service delivery for Optometry Victoria South Australia and Optometry Tasmania with Optometry Australia in 2023, and the integration of Optometry Queensland/Northern Territory in 2024.
The Strategic Future project, commissioned in 2025, built on this journey and led to the 2026 transition to one national Optometry Australia.
You can learn more about the history and legacy of each former State Division here:
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In the spirit of reconciliation Optometry Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
