Message from our CEO Lyn Brodie and new employee, employer, locums and HR FAQs now available

Since the beginning of this pandemic we have been encouraging employees and employers to be empathetic to each other and to work together to find appropriate solutions to the challenges this crisis poses. The landscape in which we find ourselves is unprecedented and made even more difficult by an ever changing and constricting economic and social environment.

We know that this is having a detrimental impact on our members, and the sector in general and we are here to help members navigate through this crisis.

Optometry Australia is fortunate to have access to the expertise of Optometry Finance Australia and Industry Legal Group to help us unravel how recently announced Government programs apply to employers, employees and sole traders, such as locums, including the HR and financial implications.

We are pleased to offer this comprehensive and easily-digestible information within our COVID-19 Resources Hub. This week we created sections on the hub dedicated to: Staffing, HR and financial support section.

• Information for employees
• Information for employers
• Information for locums
• HR FAQs

Next week members can also participate in a new webcast – Navigating HR through COVID-19. It will be held on April 14 at 2pm AEST. Register now and join us for this dedicated Optometry Australia webcast where we will have experts in their fields: Emma Dalley from Industry Legal Group and Paul McKinley from Optometry Finance Australia who will discuss members rights as Employees and Employers. We’ll also be exploring the JobKeeper vs. JobSeeker programs and how they relate to members.

In the following weeks, we will also deliver an enhanced webcast program of interesting subjects members can participate in from the comfort of their home.

And, to support members in continuing to meet the needs of their community, and to promote continuity in their business and practice, we recommend practices consider offering tele-optometry to provide essential care to patients. Whilst there is not currently Medicare items to support tele-optometry, members can privately bill for these services. If members do not already use Oculo, and would like to offer tele-optometry to their patients, we have a great opportunity for members to access the Oculo platform free-of-charge over the next six months. More information on this special offer is available on here.