The objective of the VOS is to improve the eye health of people in regional, rural and remote locations by:
To achieve this, the VOS reimburses a range of expenses incurred by optometrists providing outreach services, including: travel, accommodation and meals; facility fees and administrative support at the outreach location; locum support at the home practice; and lease or transport of equipment.
Jurisdictional fundholders manage the delivery of VOS optometry services, and operate with varying models across the country. Current fundholders are:
| State | Fundholder | Contact details |
|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | NSW Rural Doctors Network | (02) 4924 8000 |
| Victoria | Rural Workforce Agency Victoria | (03) 9349 7800 |
| Queensland | CheckUP | (07) 3105 8300 |
| South Australia | Rural Doctors Workforce Agency | (08) 8234 8277 |
| Western Australia | Rural Health West | (08) 6389 4500 |
| Tasmania | Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services | 1300 135 513 |
| Northern Territory | Northern Territory Department of Health | 1800 777 704 |
Optometry Australia encourages members delivering services via the Visiting Optometrists Scheme to familiarise themselves with our Guiding Principles for culturally appropriate, sustainable eye care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
In particularly, we encourage members to link in with existing local optometry services, as well as any relevant local primary health services, including local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services and community representatives to ensure they are aware of existing mechanisms to promote visits, access patient lists, appointment logs, and patient information.
The following resources have been developed to help support and promote the value of the visiting optometrist service to the community and the local GP practice. Whilst these resources were developed by Optometry Victoria/South Australia, in partnership with the Rural Doctors Workforce Agency in South Australia, all but the “how to” guide are designed to be used nationally and are branded with Optometry Australia’s Good Vision for Life consumer-facing logo.
| Resource | Purpose and features |
|---|---|
| Community Eye Health Champion briefing sheet | A ‘Why and How to’ Guide for the resources. |
| Promotional posters | A suite of posters, applicable for various remote and regional communities which the optometrist or Eye Health Champion can choose from as a ‘best fit’ for their community. |
| Training materials Power point presentations (editable) for: Ageing eyes Children’s Vision Diabetes and vision Dry Eyes Supporting participant handout for: Ageing eyes Children’s Vision Diabetes and vision Dry Eyes | In researching for this project, the local Health Centre and GP support teams were identified as the most important people to get on side to support the filling of the visiting optometrist’s appointment book. These resources will support optometrists in the delivery of 15 minute CPD events to clinic staff (or other local groups e.g. teachers) to promote the understanding that regular eye examinations are important for everyone in their community. |
| Educational video | A 4 minute video aimed at clinic staff which aims to educate them why regular eye health checks are important for everyone and to act as a catalyst for recruiting the community’s eye health champion. |
| Appointment log template | A tool for the person organising appointments in advance of the optometrist’s visit to facilitate the smooth and efficient running of the clinic on the day. |
| Patient brief template | A tool to use with the appointment log which supports the collation of the information required in advance of the optometrist appointment. |
Optometrists can play an important role in supporting people in underserviced communities to access optometry services. Optometry Australia encourages interested members to contact our Member Support and Optometry Advancement team at policy@optometry.org.au or their state office for further information.
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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.