From left: Jacqui Jones, Dr Samuel Dance, Dr Sharon Oberstein, and Mirné le Roux.
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT has officially launched SeeWay, Australia’s first free national holistic service designed specifically for people with moderate low vision.
The launch event took place at the Ace Hotel in Sydney on 14 May, with approximately 50 eye care professionals in attendance.
Jacqui Jones, Chair of the Board of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, hosted the evening and explained how the organisation identified a significant gap in services for Australians navigating permanent changes in their vision.
“As an organisation we’ve always stood for independence, dignity, and possibility,” Ms Jones said. “There’s a group of Australians who are navigating permanent changes in their vision and there really were not services and support for those people.”
Research conducted by Guide Dogs revealed insights into the unmet needs within the low vision space. They identified a growing cohort of Australians aged 18 to 97 living with permanent low vision, with an average age of 71. Most are living independently but aren’t legally blind. They may have lost their driver’s licence, struggle with using their phones, or have lost confidence to leave the house.
“The data also shows us they’re quite likely to be isolated and they often don’t qualify for traditional funding,” Ms Jones explained.
Meeting the Information Gap
A key finding was the lack of localised information for those seeking help. Ms Jones highlighted that over 130,000 searches are made every month in Australia for information on low vision, with up to 86% of the content coming from overseas sources.
“What you want is not the clinical or the chaotic or the uncertain from Google. What you want is local, trustworthy advice,” Ms Jones said.
SeeWay was developed as Australia’s first free national holistic service for people with moderate low vision, designed for those who aren’t eligible for government funding but urgently need support. The service is built on three pillars: information via a client-responsive information tool, services such as digital skills training, and partnerships providing no-out-of-pocket cost psychology services designed specifically for people with low vision.
Pilot Programme Success
The SeeWay team has been running a pilot programme over the past year, which has yielded impressive results. Ms Jones reported that contrary to initial assumptions, digital skills training proved more in demand than counselling services with 81% of users stating their top goal was learning how to use accessibility tools on their smartphone or tablet.
“The delivery of the digital skills training quickly became more than just a skill building exercise,” Ms Jones said. “It became a powerful tool for connection, confidence, and lifelong learning.”
The pilot revealed that emotional support was also vital. When people chose mental wellbeing support, it became “a lifeline”, with uptake higher than expected. This reinforced the understanding that fear and identity are very real parts of the low vision journey.
The pilot platform has had over 4,000 organic service interactions, 4,800 unique users exploring digital literacy, and 148 people signed up for digital skills training. The service achieved a 70% open rate for personalised “My Sight Guide” communications with no drop-off, and 89% of users reported trusting the service.
Around 70,000 Australians live with permanent, moderate low vision, severe enough to impact their daily lives, but not severe enough to qualify for government-funded services
Addressing Barriers to Support
Dr Samuel Dance, a comprehensive general ophthalmologist with training in cataract and refractive laser surgery, shared his insights on the unmet needs when referring patients to low vision services.
Polling conducted during the event revealed that most eye care professionals only refer patients to low vision services a few times a year, and when they do, only about 50% of patients act on those referrals.
“Around 70,000 Australians live with permanent, moderate low vision, severe enough to impact their daily lives, but not severe enough to qualify for government-funded services,” Dr Dance explained. “We know that 20% vision loss can have a severe impact or increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and social isolation, yet only one in five Australians with low vision ever access vision rehabilitation services.”
Dr Dance emphasised that patients often aren’t ready for traditional low vision services when first diagnosed, as they may be experiencing denial, confusion, anger, or fear. He highlighted that four in five people with low vision are never referred to support services at all.
“SeeWay is available 24/7 to patients as a source of information,” Dr Dance said. “It will be there when your patient may be seeking information at 2am. It will provide the right information at the right time with a goal of supporting patients to adapt to their diagnosis.”
A comprehensive low vision service is assessing the vision, but it’s also the social, emotional, psychological, functional, and economic aspects of that vision loss…
A Multidisciplinary Approach
Dr Sharon Oberstein, a senior lecturer and Nexus Fellow at University of New South Wales Sydney School of Optometry and Vision Science, shared the optometric perspective on low vision care.
“A comprehensive low vision service is assessing the vision, but it’s also the social, emotional, psychological, functional, and economic aspects of that vision loss,” Dr Oberstein explained.
She described how SeeWay offered her three key ways to help patients: a trustworthy website with reliable information, digital skills training available both online and face-to-face, and mental wellbeing services.
Mirné le Roux, General Manager of SeeWay, said the new service will fill the gap between those available for advanced vision loss and those for mild to moderate vision impairment. Once a patient has created an account on the SeeWay website, they will be provided with tailored, clinically trusted information that will be continuously updated.
Describing SeeWay as a service to complement existing providers, she said it will act as a conduit to organisations such as Glaucoma Australia and Macular Disease Foundation Australia, helping people understand what options are available when they’re ready to explore further support.
Ms le Roux said the service’s biggest challenge in the coming months will be awareness.
“Part of what we need to do from a SeeWay perspective is to make it really easy for practitioners to be able to refer because we know that you guys are really busy and it’s really difficult to know when to refer and where to refer people to,” Ms le Roux said. To this end, SeeWay provides a QR code that enables patients to be quickly referred or to access the programme independently.
Explore the website at: seeway.com.au.
