Elevating the profession: Insights from Darrell Baker, Advanced Practice Oversight Committee Member

Darrell Baker, an experienced practitioner, former President of Optometry Australia (OA) and current member of the Advanced Practice Oversight Committee (APOC), recently shared his insights into the Advanced Practice Recognition (APR) Program.  

Darrell’s role on APOC focuses on governance and strategy. Darrell’s contributions include shaping the Program’s framework and ensuring alignment with broader professional goals.  

Governance and the role of Oversight Committees in APR 

Recognising the need for robust governance and structure, OA established two key committees to guide the APR Program: 

• APOC, comprised of leading sector experts, responsible for strategic direction, governance, and advocacy, and 
• The Clinical Advisory Committee (CAC), comprised of esteemed practitioners and subject matter experts, tasked with defining the competencies, training pathways, and experiential requirements for optometrists in advanced practice areas. 

APOC provides high-level oversight, ensuring the APR Program aligns with Optometry Australia’s Strategic Plan for FY2024-2027 and Optometry 2040 vision, while maintaining the Program’s integrity​. Meanwhile, the CAC, currently focused on glaucoma, plays a vital role in setting clinical benchmarks, the competency standards and the accompanying assessment process for the APR Program. 

Together, the carefully chosen members of APOC and CAC ensure a rigorous, transparent, and credible process for recognising advanced practice within optometry. This structured governance approach reinforces the Program’s credibility and ensures its sustainability as new areas of advanced practice are introduced. 

Benefits of the program 

According to Darrell, the APR Program is a pivotal initiative, elevating professional standards and positioning optometry alongside other allied health professions. 

Darrell has described the Program as part of a natural progression from the Optometry 2040 project, an important study led by extensive member consultation, designed to identify key trends shaping the future of eye health and eye care, the preferred and plausible futures for optometry, and key steps to realising these futures. 

‘The APR Program will allow experienced and educated optometrists to enhance their skills and gain recognition, not just within the profession but among stakeholders including the general public, ophthalmologists, and funding bodies,’ he said.

While he said the Program does not directly expand the scope of optometry, it contributes to efforts to ensure optometrists are practising to maximal scope, and deepens practitioners’ expertise and increases awareness of the value of integrating optometry into broader healthcare settings. 

Overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities 

Darrell said he expects the APR Program will address and overcome existing challenges within the profession. One such challenge is the current lack of formal recognition for highly skilled practitioners in special interest areas such as glaucoma. The APR Program, with oversight from APOC, ensures that these challenges are proactively addressed. 

‘The APR Program provides a structured platform to develop the processes, systems, policies, procedures, and competency standards for special interest groups,’ Darrell explains.  

Beyond recognition, Darrell said the Program also creates opportunities to align optometry with other allied health professions, such as podiatry and physiotherapy, which already have established advanced accreditation models.  

‘It provides a platform for advocacy by Optometry Australia and industry stakeholders, to illustrate the value of optometry to the general public and the wider industry. This could pave the way for diversified funding models, reducing reliance on traditional billing and moving towards value-based remuneration.’

Becoming Credentialled 

The APR Program requires optometrists to demonstrate their expertise through a structured application process. To qualify, optometrists must have 5+ years of experience and complete a multi-step assessment: 

1. Submit an Expression of Interest & CV 
2. Provide recognition of prior experience (case logs, lectures, publications, advanced certificates) 
3. Submit two case reports 
4. Demonstrate leadership competencies 
5. Participate in a Clinical Discussion Interview (VIVA) 

This rigorous process is overseen by the Governance Committee, a group of carefully selected, experienced practitioners from diverse backgrounds including representatives from both corporate and independent practice. The process ensures that credentialled optometrists meet advanced practice competency standards, providing confidence to both patients and the broader healthcare system.  

Optometry Australia is on track to call for expressions of interest from Optometry Australia members interested in participating in the Program in March 2025. Stay up to date with the Advanced Practice Recognition Program here, and if you would like to discuss the program further, please contact us at policy@optometry.org.au.