Promoting the profession is a core responsibility for Optometry Australia.
OA
Genevieve Quilty
In the second half of 2016 Optometry Australia will run a national awareness campaign called Good Vision for Life. The campaign will use diverse channels of communication to influence Australians aged 40–59 who are considered to be the primary household and workplace influencers. Our call to action will be to see your optometrist regularly. The underlying way we wish to motivate people is to influence their understanding of why regular preventative eye health and vision care delivered by an optometrist is an important aspect of looking after their family’s health needs.
This campaign will complement what we continue to do in the media every week, both directly and indirectly. In April alone, Optometry Australia was able to assist the understanding of main stream journalists on eye health matters with a live 30-minute segment on ABC’s 702 in Sydney on 12 April; an interview on 2GB’s morning news on myopia, contributing to programs such as the ABC’s Checkout, which did a segment in mid-April on sunglasses and the exclusive reporting by Channel 7 during the Optometry QLD/NT Australian Vision Convention of the research by Associate Professor Scott Read on the importance of outdoor light exposure in early childhood and myopia.
We act on behalf of the whole profession, helping optometrists deliver the best in eye health and patient care.
Optometry Australia also assists media behind the scenes, an example being a myopia special on ABC TV’s Catalyst program and with print media outlets who ran our ‘Eating for Eye Health’ release in papers and magazines nationwide. Separately, Optometry Australia has introduced the ‘Professional Partnership program’ where we work with other professions collaboratively to increase understanding of the scope of practice of optometrists. The central aim is to ensure patients are referred, as appropriate, quickly and efficiently to an optometrist rather than alternative pathways such as accident and emergency departments.
These are just some ways we work on behalf of the profession. Feel free to contact us if you’d like more information about what we do to advance, promote and protect our profession.
OA Vic
Pete Haydon
I’m delighted that my colleague in NSW/ACT, Andrew McKinnon, has attached his flagship CPD event, Super Sunday, to Silmo Sydney when it reaches Australia next year.
For our part, Optometry Victoria was happy to make way for this in March and move the Southern Regional Congress (SRC) back to its more familiar date in May. It’s great to see the various states of the Optometry Australia federation collaborating strongly on these matters for the benefit of all of our members.
We’ve also decided to revisit the Pullman in Albert Park for SRC in 2017, from 27–28 May. In my view we weren’t able to show that venue at anything like its best this year, and I’m very confident that in 2017 we’ll do that.
I’ll be communicating with our members over the coming months to again acknowledge some of the issues we faced this year; talk about the improvements we’ll be making; and how those improvements will enhance and sustain SRC in the future.
We’re also spending time over the coming weeks reminding our members about our strength in numbers. More than 90 per cent of registered optometrists are members of the Association – a level of membership that is the envy of all other health-related associations I speak to. It’s this collective strength that enables us to maintain our leadership of the profession.
Optometry Australia, along with the State divisions, is the only professional organisation that is committed to supporting members throughout their careers, from University to retirement. We act on behalf of the whole profession, helping optometrists deliver the best in eye health and patient care.
Our members know we have their backs. We’ll continue to deliver resources to help optometrists practise confidently and provide personalised, confidential advice and advocacy with high-level decision makers that lead to the best settings for optometric practice.
