Australia is seeing an alarming increase in the incidence of a range of debilitating eye conditions, a trend predicted to continue over the course of this decade. Consequently, Optometry Australia spoke with Jarryd, a young father who received an unexpected glaucoma diagnosis during a routine eye examination.
OV/SA’s Looking Outward on Optometric Knowledge (LOOK) Local Scholarship is now open for applications. Established last year to facilitate Australian-based study tours for an OV/SA financial member, the Scholarship is intended to directly improve eye health of local communities throughout Victoria and South Australia.
In our recent discussion with Advanced Practice Recognition (APR) Program Assessor, Jason Holland, we delved into the Program’s achievements and challenges, gaining valuable insights into how Jason sees the Program shaping the future of optometry in Australia.
Victorian optometrist Dr Nihaama Narayanan has won the 2024 Optometry Connection Case Report and Clinical Image Award after her peers voted for her standout case report ‘Unravelling Posner-Scholssman syndrome: Managing acute attacks and long-term control’.
As the 2025 Federal Election looms, OA’S ‘Eyes on Medicare’ campaign is gaining traction, thanks to passionate members like Nancy Atkinson, President of OQNT, who recently met with her local MP, Elizabeth Watson-Brown to champion the sector’s call for the reinstatement of two-yearly Medicare-subsidised eye exams for Australians under 65.
Optometry Australia (OA) is pleased to announce that it is again offering a bursary to support members to attend the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Eye Health Conference (NATSIEHC25) on the lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people in Perth on 27-29 May 2025. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander optometrists and optometry students are strongly encouraged to apply.
With the 2025 Federal Election approaching, Optometry Australia is committed to ensuring that eye health, and optometry, is firmly on the policy agenda.
Optometry Australia sat down with Advanced Practice Recognition (APR) Program graduate Inez Hsing to find out what motivated her to participate in the Program and to gather insights from her experience as one of the Program’s first graduates.
Optometry Australia takes the increasing concern about workforce oversupply in optometry very seriously. With new optometry graduates facing challenges in securing employment and growing evidence of an expanding workforce, we have again made a formal submission to the Federal Government’s Occupation Shortage List (OSL) survey.
Late last year, Optometry Australia commissioned a comprehensive national survey examining the working conditions of employed optometrists. Led by Professor Nicola Anstice from Flinders University, with support from a dedicated team of co-investigators, the survey gathered responses from over 500 optometrists.
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.
