The seventh National Vision 2020 Member Forum, held last July at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre has been a success with 55 representatives from 20 member organisations in attendance.
The event was preceded by a social event on Tuesday night at The Emerald Peacock which was held for members to network in preparation for the following day.
Guest speaker Jessica Gallagher, Australia’s first female winter Paralympian medallist, delighted the audience with an inspiring and entertaining talk. Jessica was born with a rare genetic eye disease, cone dystrophy, and is considered legally blind.
Delegates listened intently to Jessica’s inspiring story about the road to the Paralympics in March 2010 and inspected her bronze medal. She has not let vision impairment stand in the way of realising any of her dreams!
The Member Forum explored policy development for the eye health and vision care sector.
The Forum was opened by the Hon. Daniel Andrews MP, Victorian Minister for Health. The Minister commended the sector on its achievements and highlighted that the Victorian Government is a strong supporter of eye health and vision care, now and into the future.
It also heard from a number of Victorian members on programs being delivered and learnt more about the recent achievements of the Vision Initiative.
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The afternoon session focused on policy development with attendees split into smaller groups to identify broad policy areas and key elements of policy for the sector. This followed a presentation from Ben Carter from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who outlined the process adopted by his organisation to develop policy for the members it represents.
