1:30min
By Dr Theo Charalambous (Optometrist)
President, Optometry Australia
Optometry Australia supports respectful, team-based eye care. We agree with the Australian Society of Ophthalmologists (ASO) when it says patient safety must be paramount.
Where we differ is in the implication that enabling appropriately endorsed optometrists to prescribe oral medicines for eye conditions is a “shortcut”, or that it weakens safeguards.
Let’s be clear: optometrists are not seeking to “become doctors”. We are proud to be optometrists – highly trained, autonomous primary eye care clinicians. This sensible change is about removing an artificial barrier that forces patients into duplicate appointments simply to obtain a prescription for an eye condition which their optometrist has already expertly diagnosed and is managing.
Patient need should lead
Across Australia, people are waiting too long, travelling too far and paying too much for time-sensitive treatment. Enabling oral prescribing for therapeutically endorsed optometrists means more patients can begin appropriate treatment in a single consultation, rather than being sent elsewhere purely because of an administrative restriction on “topical” routes. This reduces preventable delays, avoids unnecessary out-of-pocket costs and supports continuity of care.
It also helps the broader system. When optometrists can manage straightforward ocular presentations end-to-end, GPs and ophthalmologists are freed to focus on more complex and surgical care – where community need is greatest.
Optometrists are trained, regulated prescribers – and we know when to refer
The ASO has raised concerns about systemic complexity and risk. Those risks are precisely why therapeutic endorsement exists – an endorsement held by over 80% of the optometry profession. Therapeutically endorsed optometrists undertake extensive, accredited therapeutics education, including systemic effects, contraindications, interactions, special populations and adverse-event management. Endorsed optometrists prescribe under the same national prescribing competency expectations as other prescribers, and practise within clear professional and regulatory boundaries.
Just as importantly: optometrists have an established culture of collaboration and appropriate referral. Expanding optometrists’ prescribing rights does not change referral thresholds — it simply removes a rule that currently forces referral for an oral medicine even when the patient’s condition is well within optometric expertise.
International experience shows this model is safe
Australia is not being asked to invent something new. Comparable countries, including New Zealand, the UK and the USA have enabled optometrist oral prescribing for years. New Zealand’s model (established since 2014) shows no evidence of mis-prescribing, over-prescribing, or optometrists prescribing outside scope.
Australia’s own track record is reassuring too. Our optometrists have a long history of prescribing, with negligible complaints or medico-legal claims, reinforcing that optometrists practise cautiously and within scope.
Ophthalmologists and optometrists are strongest when we work together. Collaboration, however, can’t mean one profession must remain artificially constrained while community need grows. Optometrists are the front line of eye care in many communities, including regional and remote Australia, and we are ready to deliver timely treatment consistent with contemporary evidence.
This reform is sensible, patient-centred, and supported by strong international experience.
Tagged as: Therapeutics