Optometry Australia congratulates Dr Marianne Coleman, Research Fellow and Orthoptist at the National Centre for Healthy Ageing, on being awarded the prestigious $400,000 Dementia Australia Henry Brodaty Mid-Career Research Fellowship. Dr Coleman is working to co-design a dementia-friendly eye care pathway aimed at ensuring people with dementia in residential aged care can “see well, to live well.”
To improve and streamline referrals to public ophthalmology departments, most states and territories have now produced guidelines or criteria on what conditions should and shouldn’t be referred, as well as what is mandatory or highly desirable to include in referrals. To assist members, Optometry Australia has developed a concise summary on the Victorian State-Wide Referral Criteria for glaucoma.
Following extensive consultation with Optometry Australia and other key eye care stakeholders in South Australia, new Ophthalmology Clinical Prioritisation Criteria (CPC) for frequently referred ophthalmology conditions have now been published on the SA Health website.
Primary Health Networks (PHNs) have released a National Allied Health Practice Engagement Toolkit to support allied health professionals, including optometrists, to engage more actively with Australia’s primary healthcare system.
The Victorian Government has expanded its Victorian Virtual Specialist Consults (VVSC) service to include ophthalmology. The service is now up and running and available for optometrists to book appointments on Monday afternoons.
Optometry Australia member and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the QUT Centre for Vision and Eye Research, Dr Rohan Hughes, has secured significant funding from the American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) to investigate the early warning signs of myopia in Australian children.
We congratulate Optometry Victoria South Australia member Daniel Thomson on his nomination as a finalist in the Rural Workforce Agency Victoria (RWAV) Victorian Rural Health Awards.
Working in optometry means wearing many hats. At Optometry Australia, we’re always looking for ways to make the day-to-day just a little bit easier for our members. That’s exactly why we’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with VistaPrint.
Optometry Australia is seeing increased concern from members about leave requests being unreasonably denied and approved requests being cancelled. These actions may breach legal entitlements. We are working closely with members and the employment law team at Industry Legal Group to address these issues when they arise and help ensure you’re treated fairly at work.
Mental health is an ongoing priority. At Optometry Australia, we are continuing to expand our mental health and wellbeing support in response to the real and rising needs of our members and the profession.
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.
