Faced with “underwhelming responses from key political parties”, Optometry Australia (OA) is intensifying its election campaign, warning that Australia is sleepwalking into an eye health crisis.
The association’s urgent call to action coincides with World Optometry Week (17–23 March 2025), which this year carries the theme ‘Eyes to the Future: Optometry Improving Global Wellness’.
As the world highlights the critical role of optometry in shaping healthier communities, OA said Australia must rise to the occasion or risk falling behind – especially as eye health continues to be deprioritised in national policy discussions.
Over 400 optometrists across the country have sent more than 5,500 emails to federal representatives, urging them to reverse the 2014 Budget decision that reduced Medicare-subsidised initial comprehensive eye examinations for under 65s from once every two years to once every three years.
If we saw a similar decline in preventative health measures like cancer screenings, the government would act immediately
OA CEO Skye Cappuccio said despite this strong advocacy, OA said political leaders have failed to take action:
- The Australian Labor Party (ALP) has referred optometrists to the Medicare Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) rather than committing to fixing the issue, leaving change languishing in bureaucracy. [Read Health Minister Mark Butler’s response.]
- The Australian Greens have offered only a general commitment to Medicare, but with a focus on dental rather than eye care.
- The Coalition has yet to respond at all.
“This lack of action is unacceptable,” Ms Cappuccio said. “If we saw a similar decline in preventative health measures like cancer screenings, the government would act immediately. Instead, eye health is being ignored – and Australians are paying the price.”
A System in Crisis
OA’s analysis of official Medicare figures found that per capita rates of initial comprehensive eye examinations by people aged under 65 fell by nearly 20% between 2017–18 and 2023–24. This alarming drop was in all age cohorts from 0–5 years to 55–64 years, and in all jurisdictions. In fact, in one year, between 2022–23 and 2023–24, there was a 6.2% drop, indicating a likely link to cost-of-living pressures, with per capita rates of initial comprehensive eye examinations now lower than in the heights of the COVID pandemic in 2020-21.
At the same time, chronic eye conditions, including childhood myopia, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration, are rising sharply. Many of these conditions can lead to permanent vision loss if not detected early, yet routine eye exams remain out of reach for too many Australians.
To get the message through to all parties in the lead up to the federal election, Ms Cappuccio said OA members were now “stepping up, meeting MPs, sharing patient stories, and demanding action”.
“If optometry is ignored this election, it won’t be because we stayed quiet.
“At the moment, the major parties are on a unity ticket to ignore eye care. This has to change – Canberra may be happy to ignore eye health, but Australians shouldn’t,” she said.
