Optometry Western Australia Annual General Meeting / Special General Meeting for 2025 will be Wednesday 15th October 2025.

2025 AGM/SGM 15th OCTOBER

Attention all OWA Members,

Please be advised that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Optometry Western Australia along with a Special General Meeting (SGM) will be held on Wednesday 15^th October 2025 at the University of Western Australia Eye Health Centre 39 Fairway Crawley WA 6009 commencing at 6.30pm.

Please note the time change from 6pm to 6.30pm for the start of AGM/SGM. 

The meeting will be followed by our October CPD evening presented by Dr Geoffrey Chan from approximately 7.00 to 8.00pm. More information on the topic & CPD type will be made available shortly.

Members are advised to read the attached voting information sheet to ascertain particular voting rights for the AGM and SGM.

For those members interested, we have attached the Board Member nomination form. (Further enquiries can be made to Evan MacRae via eo@optometrywa.org.au or phone (08) 9321 2300.

Please note that:

Nominations for Board positions close at 6.30pm AWST Wednesday 8^th October 2025. Completed forms must be received by the date and time indicated or they cannot be accepted.

In the event of a vote being necessary, those members wishing to provide a proxy vote must complete and return the Appointment of Proxy form if they are unable to attend the AGM. Completed Proxy forms must be received by no later than 6.30pm AWST Monday 13^th October 2025 to be accepted.

We request that you please confirm your attendance by no later than Monday 13th October 2025 to enable catering to be arranged and if attending remotely to enable links to the meeting via technology. (Please complete this short RSVP form to confirm your attendance). Click HERE

Optometry Western Australia Special General Meeting.

Members should note that the:

• SGM agenda,
• current rules of OWA,
• proposed rules of OWA and
• summary of changes advisory table are all available via the links on this page, along with an additional Proxy form.

Please note that voting at the SGM can only take place if a member is attending in person or by proxy who attends in person. (See attached voting information sheet).

We look forward to seeing you there.  Please RSVP to confirm your in person or virtual attendance to the AGM/SGM & the CPD evening that follows on from the AGM/ SGM.

Access the Optometry WA Annual Report to Members 2023-2024 via the link below.  You must be logged into access this member only page.

OWA ANNUAL REPORT TO MEMBERS 2023-2024

Please complete this short RSVP form to confirm your attendance at the 2025 AGM/SGM.

RSVP FOR THE 2025 AGM/SGM

Optometry Western Australia Annual General Meeting

AGM Notice & Agenda 2025 6.30pm Start

OWA AGM & SGM 2025 Addendum Voting Information

Schedule 1-OWA Nomination for Election

Schedule 2-OWA Proxy Nomination

2024 AGM Minutes

Optometry Western Australia Special General Meeting

SGM Notice & Agenda 2025 6.30pm Start

PDF 1 – Rules of OWA – Document version completed July 2025 Proposed to members October 15 2025

PDF 2 – Rules of OWA – updated 22102020 rule 10.2 amendment

PDF 3 – Rules of OWA amendments summary

Schedule 2-OWA Proxy Nomination (1)

OWA Members Karyn Campion and Stephanie Bahler (OWA President) embarked on a trip recently to volunteer for AHHA in Cambodia & Vietnam.  Read on below the reports from both.

Karyn Campion

Stephanie was the person who first suggested we volunteer for AHHA. Previously we had worked together in remote WA, providing visiting optometry services to the aboriginal communities in the East Kimberley region. We travelled and worked well together, so thought we would go global and do a trip to Cambodia and Vietnam.

As an optometrist, I’ve always believed in the power of sight. Vision connects us to the world- it’s fundamental to learning, working and connecting with others. Yet, in many underserved regions around the world, access to basic eye care remains a luxury. I had always wanted to use my profession to make a direct impact, and what better opportunity than do to it with a good friend and fellow optometrist.

Our time in Phnom Penh was busy. We travelled to rural communities where access to healthcare was scarce. We provided food parcels and vision screening. In the clinic environment at the local hospital, we were able to see hundreds of people each day. The examination included eye health and general health check. Cataract and pterygium surgeries were fast tracked and performed on the day. Post-operative care was done in the later afternoon or following morning.

In Vietnam, we worked out of a refuge centre in a village in Hue where medical services are limited. It was a busy morning with screening over 200 people. Here our main focus was screening for cataracts and referring the patients onto the local ophthalmologist. Food parcels were distributed across the community.

What struck me most throughout this journey-both in Cambodia and in Hue- was the resilience of the people and their deep gratitude. Despite limited resources and immense challenges, these communities welcomed us with warmth and humility.

I am deeply grateful to all members of the AHHA Association for their incredible effort in coordinating and organizing the volunteer trip to Cambodia and Vietnam. The amount of work behind the scenes was immense, yet everything ran so smoothly. I am thankful to have been part of such a dedicated and passionate team.

Last but not least, I am also very grateful to Steph for traveling with me and first suggesting that we volunteer. The trip has provided me with lasting memories and experiences that I will always treasure.

Karyn Campion

AHHA Website

Stephanie Bahler

I first learned about AHHA through my colleague, who shared his photos and experiences with me. His passion for the organization deeply resonated with me, especially since I have participated in several overseas optometry outreach trips in the past. However, it had been nearly 10 years since my last mission, and I felt a strong desire to re-engage with this work.

This trip was particularly unique due to its scale; over 100 volunteers participated, with optometrists collaborating with ophthalmologists to provide same-day cataract surgeries. In addition to the theatre team, we included general practitioners, pharmacists, orthoptists, and even dentists. I also recognized the invaluable contributions of the logistics, administration and media teams, whose skills were essential to the mission’s success. Every individual played a pivotal role in making this outreach possible.

I thought of inviting Karyn C., as we were both familiar with community outreach within regional and remote Australia. We had experience setting up portable equipment and managing long lines of patients eager to be seen. Additionally, I knew that traveling with her would be enjoyable, and we decided to extend our trip with a short holiday to Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. After applying, I realized that this trip would also serve as a reunion with several of my Bachelor of Optometry UNSW peers.

What was most gratifying for me was the single day doing vision screenings and handing out humanitarian parcels just 45 minutes from Hue, Vietnam. My own mother was born in Hue, and I had only been there once before, but never to the villages. We were stationed at the Nha Cong Dong Community Centre, which was sponsored by AHHA, and located alongside the Buddhist temple on top of the hill, above the flood-prone lands. After my mother left Vietnam as a refugee, I felt a sense of purpose in being able to give back using the skills I acquired when she sought a better life, enabling me to complete tertiary education.

On reflection of the work that we did, I felt both dissatisfaction and satisfaction, but the dissatisfaction was completely understood. The dissatisfaction stemmed from only doing vision screenings, which left my hands tied regarding refractions, a cornerstone of an optometrist’s service. I understood that the mission’s objective was to screen for moderate to severe cataracts that severely impacted vision and to refer patients for same-day surgery. If the cataracts were not severe enough, patients were asked to return another year, and if there was some other cause for the reduced vision, they were counselled via an interpreter to seek local care. We were simply not set up to conduct a full consult or provide treatment or the dispensing of glasses. We did give out ready-made glasses and donated glasses that were close enough to an auto-refracted prescription. Additionally, we were able to distribute lubricating eye drops for dry eyes and sunglasses.

The satisfaction, however, lay in appreciating the different equipment that we did have. We obviously knew that the retinoscope was helpful in confirming moderate to high refractions when someone had reduced vision but minimal cataract. The direct ophthalmoscope and binocular indirect ophthalmoscope gave us an understanding of visible pathology, but we realized that they offered different signs when trying to determine the type of cataract—whether it was nuclear sclerosis, posterior subcapsular, cortical, or even posterior capsular opacification if there was an intraocular lens in place. We were fortunate to have a full-sized slit lamp in Phnom Penh, but we didn’t have one in Hue, so we ‘calibrated’ our grading of cataracts by familiarizing ourselves with the slit lamp and comparing it with the BIO before traveling to Hue. The immense satisfaction was felt after contributing to 930 medical health checks which resulted in 498 eye surgeries, plus another 200 eye checks in Hue, and the distribution of over 2000 humanitarian parcels.

We were surprised to not see diabetic retinopathy, whereas the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is high. There was a fair amount of pseudoexfoliation in Hue, and dense cataracts and pterygium were, of course, common in both locations.

The team was invited to enjoy a vegetarian meal at the temple after our work, and the food was nostalgic to me, as I grew up eating similar dishes in my household, but never in any restaurant in Australia.

The journey to Phnom Penh and Hue was more rewarding than I had anticipated. Not only did I share this experience with friends, but I also felt a fantastic sense of camaraderie with my fellow healthcare volunteers. We met Dr William Trinh, Sydney optometrist and Chairman for AHHA who was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his life-long work in this field. We met some truly amazing individuals and contributed to a population in need, quite literally helping to give back the gift of sight. This experience also reignited my passion for optometry, and I would recommend that our members also consider volunteering for remote work or overseas missions, whether it be next year, or within their future.

Stephanie Bahler

OWA WAVE 2026 Conference 21st & 22nd March 2026 – Details out later this year. 

Looking for WAVE On Demand 2025?
WAVE delegates can access online now until 30th November 2025 & if you are new to WAVE, you can purchase a registration for full access to WAVE on Demand. 

WAVE 2026 + ODA
This is planned as an In Person Event & Virtual attendance.

Venue:  The Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle, WA
Discounted Accommodation Available.    Further details to follow.

Registration… EARLY BIRD WILL OPEN LATER THIS YEAR

Program… CHECK BACK LATER THIS YEAR

Max CPD hours awarded: TBC

<< Back to Optometry WA home page                   To Optometry WA – Our resources >>

Optometry WA works with Time Critical to provide CPR courses for our members on a variety of dates.  Once you complete your course, you can upload the certificate to the OA Member Hub, tick that you are CPR Accredited and enter the expiry date of your certificate.

Time Critical has completed a Risk Assessment & put the following measures in place:

• Adequate space to adhere to social distancing
• Adequate ventilation
• All surfaces have been cleaned and disinfected
• Training equipment has been cleaned and disinfected
• Adequate hand sanitiser and alcohol wipes available
• Hand sanitiser provided throughout the course
• Training equipment cleaned with alcohol wipes during session after each use

COMING SOON – CPR COURSES FRIDAY BEFORE WAVE 2026

Remember to put the expiry date 3 years from the date taken, as you are only required by AHPRA to take the course once every 3 years. You can also email the OWA office to update your certificate on admin@optometrywa.org.au

OWA CPD Metro Evening 15th October 2025

Optometry Western Australia’s October CPD evening will be on Wednesday 15th 2025.  This CPD follows on directly after the OWA AGM/SGM.

Registration options to attend entire evening or either AGM/SGM or CPD Evening.   In person attendance required for quorum and Zoom options will be available for AGM/SGM and CPD once In Person attendance met.

Topic:  Exploring the Genetic Landscape of Glaucoma

Summary: This talk explores the genetic landscape of glaucoma, outlining how different glaucoma subtypes are shaped by their underlying genetic contributions. The session highlights the current and emerging role of genetic testing in clinical practice, including risk prediction, diagnosis, and family screening, and looks ahead to future directions in glaucoma genetics, including precision medicine approaches.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Understand the genetic basis of glaucoma, including the distinction between monogenic and polygenic contributions across different glaucoma subtypes.
2. Recognize the clinical applications and future potential of genetic testing in glaucoma diagnosis, risk stratification, and personalized management.

This is planned as an In Person Event & Zoom attendance.

Venue:  UWA Optometry, 39 Fairway, Crawley, WA, 6009 

Learning Objective
To improve the interpretation of retinal imaging to minimize misdiagnoses and recognize the imaging features of less common diseases.

REGISTRATION OPEN IN PERSON ONLY

<< Back to Optometry WA home page                   To Optometry WA – Our resources >>

Forthcoming OWA Metro CPD Dates for 2025
*Subject to change in person or zoom status
* Interactive CPD TBC within the dates listed below

• 10th June 2025  – Metro CPD – In Person & Zoom Available
• 26th Aug 2025 – UWA CPD with Dr Blair Lonsberry WAITLIST
• 10th Sep 2025 – Metro CPD – In Person & Zoom Available
• 15th October 2025 – Metro CPD & OWA AGM/SGM
• 3rd November 2025 – Metro CPD – In Person & Zoom Available

Optometry WA has an active group of members who are all within their first 10 years of their optometry career.  The Early Career Optometrists in WA have a busy calendar of events throughout the year of CPD and social nights.

2025 ECO Dates

24th February – New Grads Social Night @ The Brisbane

9th April 2025 – ECO & CooperVision Trivia Night @ Cleaver Street & Co. Studio

28th May 2025 – ECO Online Case Studies CPD Evening with Dr Andrew  Nguyen & Nick Lee – 1 Hour Interactive CPD available. 

27th August 2025
ECO WA Social Evening – Axe Throwing.

15th September: ECO WA – Think Outside The Box 
More Info HERE

More Event Info Coming Soon for 2025

Don’t forget the OWA CPD & OWA Social Events are for all OWA Members, including ECO Members.  ECO Events are just for ECO Members unless otherwise detailed.

2025 DATES

Optometry WA used to host four regional CPD evenings a year, and in the past these have been in March & June and August.   Since Metro CPD’s are now mostly streamed online for our regional and even interstate members, the Regional CPDs are subject to numbers.  Watch this space for further updates.

2024 Regional CPD Dates

• 4th August 2025 – The Sebel Hotel, Mandurah
• Wednesday 3rd December 2025  – Bunbury – Info coming soon.

OWA is continuously looking at a range of initiatives to add further value to our members, and your suggestions and feedback has been collated. The summarized findings are below:

• Majority of responders see value in OWA facilitating social events, key reasons being
  • Comradery especially during COVID
  • Positive impact on well being and mental health
  • Discover opportunities
  • Sharing ideas
  • Like minded people
  • Making friendships

Want to attend Social Events in 2025… Email admin@optometrywa.org.au

Events for 2025 –  Just Missed Rock Climbing!
Next Social is @ The Globe 2nd December 2025

Past Social Events 

• OWA Bushwalk – Kings Park
• OWA Paint & Sip – Check out the gallery of our cubism artwork!
• OWA Bowling
• OWA Social @ The Globe
• OWA Escape This
• OWA Comedy Festival Night
• Whitemans Park Walk – 23rd February 2025
• HBF Run For A Reason – 25th May 2025
  Join Team Eye Can Run now & raise funds for Lions Eye Institute

• Responders are interested in a social events calendar in addition to OWA-facilitated events
• Preference is for open attendance i.e. entire practice team, suppliers, loved ones
• Quarterly events preferred, with an ‘interactive CPD’ session making members more likely to attend
• Popular activities were (descending order): quiz night; movie night fundraiser; cooking class, wine tasting tour & bushwalking; fundraising gala dinner; art class
• Other feedback suggested Saturday night events; being mindful of members in regional locations; concerns around fees subsidizing events; and attendance being dependent on time and family commitments

Our promise to you:

• Create a social events calendar on ‘what’s happening around me in WA’
• Quarterly events (ideally with some interactive CPD) with a small budget subsidized for social investment, but a pay-as-you-go activity / meals to allow other industry people to attend

Optometry WA hosts an annual golf day for members and our industry associates.

The next Optometry WA Golf Day will be advertised soon.  We have just completed our Autumn Golf Day on the 28th April 2025.

We play as teams of 4 Ambrose and you can register as an individual, 2, 3 or team of 4.

Any questions, please email admin@optometrywa.org.au for further details.

Optometry WA run a monthly eye clinic at St Pat’s Community Support Centre in Fremantle.  On the third Tuesday of every month (except December), Optometry WA Chief Executive Officer, Evan MacRae runs the eye clinic with the support of one of our kind volunteer optoms.

The frames are all donated or recycled and the lenses are kindly provided at a very low cost by CR Surfacing Laboratories.

We ask for volunteers at the start of each year and we currently need volunteers for the latter part of 2025 St Pat’s dates.

Register your interest via email admin@optometrywa.org.au

Thank you to ne:Solutions for their recent donation of equipment to St Pats.

Bridging Now to Next – NRW 2025

The National Reconciliation Week (NRW) 2025 theme, Bridging Now to Next, reflects the ongoing connection between past, present and future.
See the website here for further details. 

Ways to be connected to our communities. Following the failed Voice Referendum, the OWA RAP committee and Reconciliation Australia want us to continue to be aware of the history of our First Nations People and the effect that history has made and continues to make on their life outcomes, including their health and vision and integration into general society.

• There are many reasons that First Nations People have a 31 % rate of high or very high psychological distress compared to 14% in non-indigenous populations¹ (in remote communities it is higher). One factor is ongoing unconscious racism and we need to call out RACISM in all its presentations whenever we encounter it.

¹  Mental Health Report; Productivity Commission Inquiry Report Vol 1, #95 30/6/2020

Below are 2 short videos produced by mental health agencies

‘The Invisible Discriminator’ Stop Think Respect (youtube.com)

Staying strong: Responding to racism (youtube.com)

• Many people have heard of the Close the Gap initiatives and the Close the Gap for Vision initiatives. Vision 2020 in collaboration has developed a Strong Eyes Strong Community framework to improve the vision and life outcomes for First Nations Children.

Strong eyes, strong communities is a blueprint for change, collaboration and improvement. Together, a world class system that delivers culturally safe eye care to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is within our reach.

See the summary below.

Strong-Eyes-Strong-Communities-Summary-and-Recommendations.pdf (vision2020australia.org.au)

• Australia’s settlement and legislative history with First Nations People.

NAIDOC WEEK 2025 
National NAIDOC Week 2025 runs from 6-13 July and marks 50 years of honoring and elevating Indigenous voices, culture, and resilience. The 2025 theme is The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy.

Information from NAIDOC WEEK 2024:  At OWA we aim to be part of the solution to Closing the Gap on Health for our First Nation’s communities and invite all optometrists to be part of this goal.  Here we share some NAIDOC Week stories from our OWA Members.

1:  Who: Optometrist Stephen Copeland for Lions Outback Vision.  Location: VOS trip to Derby, Kimberley Region,  at Derby Aboriginal Medical Service  ** Material is supplied by Lions Outback Vision**

“ Derby resident, Lesley Butt can read her mail again with the help of a pair of reading glasses”   From “I can’t read” to “I can read.” in under 30 minutes. 

That’s what seeing an optometrist can do for someone.  This is what Derby resident, Lesley Butt discovered during her optometry consultation at her hometown Aboriginal Medical Service in Derby, WA.

Do You Want A Diabetic Eye Check With That?
Making the most of opportunities is how things get done in remote clinics.

Tiahni presented to her local Aboriginal Medical Service to see Cheryl, the diabetic educator.   Cheryl, knew that the optometrist was also consulting at the clinic that day and consequently offered Tiahni the chance for her diabetic eye exam to also be completed whilst there. Tiahni happily agreed.  The results and management plan relating to Tiahni’s diabetic educator and optometrist consultation were discussed with Tiahni’s GP.

This is an example of opportunistic health care delivery, allowing for several health-check scenarios to be completed whilst the patient is attending the clinic.  It saves the extra process of referrals being written, sent, then triaged; appointment bookings made; and then hoping that the patient will attend.Tiahni’s AMS visit was satisfying for all involved.

Opposite: Boab Health diabetic educator, Lions Outback Vision optometrist and BRAMS GP collaborate to provide relevant health care to BRAMS client, Tiahni.  Words by Lions Outback Vision optometrist, Stephen Copeland.  Photo by Dr Fearon Kelly.

2:  Who: Optometrist Karyn Campion for Lions Outback Vision. Location: VOS trip to Halls Creek , Kimberley Region, at Aboriginal Medical Service Yura Yungi

Optometrist for Lions Outback Vision Karyn Campion on one of her regular Visiting Optometry trips to Halls Creek at Yura Yungi. She travels to Halls Creek 4 times a year with an alternate day in either Yiyilli or Ringers Soak community.

Karyn testing one of the local residents and elder of Yiyilli community Matt Dawson, who looks pretty happy with his new glasses. Yiyilli community is approximately a 90 minute drive from Halls Creek.

Photos Above: Optometrist Karyn Campion for Lions Outback Vision VOS trip.Location: Ringer Soak Community, located 170km south East of Halls Creek in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

This shows the remoteness of these Aboriginal Communities and why a visiting Optometry service is vital to reduce the burden of eye disease.

National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) formed in 1991.   Historically, NAIDOC formed as the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) in 1956.  Download the HISTORY HERE

CLICK here to access the SUPPORTING NAIDOC WEEK TOOLKIT

3:  Who: Locally based Optometrists Alex Craig and Mitchell Gin of Karratha Eyecare    Location: Karratha, Pilbara, Western Australia

Over the past five years Karratha Eyecare has been fortunate to work with the Lions Eye Institute Outback Vision team in further developing a state-of-the-art telehealth service that ensures that patients who choose to live in Karratha do not necessarily have to fly to Perth to get tertiary care and ophthalmologist opinions.

This service was initially run in conjunction with the Outback Vision Van and has since allowed for the Outback Vision Van to reduce its number of services to the region as patients can be managed in conjunction with local optometrists in a co-management arrangement via this telehealth service. The Van now is able to service more areas and be of wider assistance to even farther remote areas in regional Western Australia.

This telehealth services utilities the Harmony image sharing platform, a vision of Topcon engineering that allows for seamless ocular image sharing across multiple locations. This ensures that ophthalmologists are able to see patients data in real time and the same images that the optometrist may be seeing at a screening site or at a private practice.

This clinic is run at Karratha Eyecare under Medicare billing every fortnight and has shown remarkable promise in dramatically reducing cataract wait time and increasing accessibility to tertiary care and overall stabilization of chronic eye disease management. There is an Adhoc function that also serves to ensure acute patients are seen in a timely manner and managed appropriately. This de-burdens the local emergency department.

This service is also utilized as an educational tool as it illustrates the complete journey for optometry and medical students who do placement in Karratha. It also gets the students to collaborate on case discussion allowing for interdisciplinary learning. Both Alex Craig and Mitchell Gin of Karratha Eyecare run this clinic at the Karratha site in conjunction with Dr. Angus Turner and his team in Broome at the Lions Outback Vision Hub. This service has made an incredible impact on the accessibility of eye care for particularly for our indigenous population and those who called Karratha home.

4: Who: Visiting Optometrist Sinead Denny for Lions Outback Vision
Location: Derbarl Yerrigan Aboriginal Medical Service East Perth

Sinead has been visiting the local Aboriginal Medical service Derbarl Yerrigan for over 5 years as part of a visiting Optometry Service with Lions Outback Vision. She visits about 12x per year. Patients attending the local health service can get their Diabetic Eye Checks on the day, as well as any glasses that need to be prescribed. Derbarl Yerrigan is unique as it is a “one stop shop” for GP, Dental, Podiatry, Ophthalmology services and now providing Optometry Services as part of the 715 health checks.

Over the years Sinead has found that some Aboriginal patients are not accessing local eyecare services, and so providing Optometry services within an Aboriginal Medical Service provides a culturally safe environment, that has captured patients that would have otherwise fallen through the cracks. Sinead works closely with visiting Ophthalmology services from Lions Outback Vision so that patients are triaged effectively for any treatment or surgery that may be needed.

CLICK here to CHECK OUT LOCAL NAIDOC EVENTS HERE