As optometry evolves, keeping up with new knowledge is essential, particularly understanding how to apply that new knowledge into clinical practice. That’s where interactive, case-based CPD comes in. Unlike traditional lecture-style learning, case-based education places optometrists in realistic clinical scenarios.
Optometry NSW/ACT has appointed Thomas Ford as its new President. Based in Griffith, New South Wales, Tom is a regional optometrist with a strong focus on the profession’s future and on advancing peer education.
The initiative coincides with National Close the Gap Day on Thursday, 19 March, recognising the ongoing inequities in health outcomes between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians.
Recent changes to Queensland driver licence medical forms have raised concerns among optometrists, particularly around the visibility of optometry within the driving assessment process.
Optometrists are being urged to remain vigilant following reports of eye infections affecting Australian rules football players in the Northern Territory.
After receiving the highest number of votes from peers for her case report, ‘To dilate or not to dilate? Choroidal melanoma: obtaining appropriate baseline data’, optometrist Annie Tran has been named the winner of the 2025 Optometry Connection Case Report and Clinical Image Award.
Optometrists in the Northern Territory will soon have hands-on, practical professional development closer to home, with Optometry Queensland and Northern Territory (OQNT) hosting Darwin Interactive (18-19 April 2026): a boutique, face-to-face CPD conference delivering case-based learning through immersive clinical sessions and peer discussion.
Mark Nevin doesn’t think small when it comes to optometry’s future. He thinks about direction, momentum and impact. Since taking on the role of CEO at Optometry Australia in early 2026, Mark has brought with him a career’s worth of perspective shaped by frontline care, national advocacy and whole-of-system health reform.
Optometry Australia and the five State Divisions are exploring a move to a unified structure: a single organisation which will strengthen member engagement and support, advocate more effectively and reduce duplication to help lower member fees.
Optometry Tasmania and the Tasmanian Optometry Foundation (TOF) are proud to support the next generation of Tasmanian optometrists through the Tasmanian Optometry Foundation Scholarship, with applications now open for 2026. The scholarship enables optometrists, students and researchers to pursue professional development opportunities that advance the profession and improve patient care in Tasmania.
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.
