Eye health
Illness, injury and ageing can affect your eyesight, so it’s important to keep your eyes as healthy as possible. Find out what we’re doing to help improve eye health in Australia and prevent vision loss.
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Eye health in Australia
In Australia, more than 450,000 people are living with vision impairment or blindness. Common eye conditions that cause vision loss include cataracts and diabetic retinopathy (damage to the retina from diabetes).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities:
- suffer vision impairment and blindness at 3 times the rate of other Australians
- have high rates of trachoma (an eye infection) in some areas
Some eye conditions are caused by genes or ageing. But you can reduce your risk of many eye conditions by caring for your eyes and leading a healthy lifestyle.
It’s also important to get regular eye tests. Around 90% of all blindness and vision impairment in Australia is preventable or treatable if detected early.
Most Australians (90%) say that sight is their most valued sense, so we need to make sure everyone has access to the eye care they need.
What we’re doing about eye health
We work on policy and programs to improve eye health services and prevent and treat eye conditions.
We helped to create a national framework to respond to VISION 2020 — the World Health Organisation’s call to eradicate avoidable blindness.
We also fund research into eye health and eye conditions. This includes funding for a national eye health survey and the National Health and Medical Research Council.
The research helps us to focus our policy and programs on specific needs such as:
- improving eye health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- managing trachoma in Australia
- providing eye health services through the Rural Health Outreach Fund
- helping people to manage their diabetes through the National Diabetes Services Scheme
Key framework
National framework on eye health and avoidable blindness and vision loss
This framework sets out how the Australian Government, state and territory governments, non-government organisations, industry and health professionals can work together to improve eye health. Also see the implementation plan.
Initiatives and programs
Visiting Optometrists Scheme
This scheme helps optometrists to provide outreach optometry services in rural and remote areas. It helps to cover the costs of things like travel and accommodation. Find out about eligible areas and how to take part in this scheme.
Resources
National framework on eye health and avoidable blindness and vision loss: third progress report
This report covers the work the Government and state and territory governments have done from 2011 to 2014 to improve eye health. The first progress report and second progress report are also available.
Support services
Vision 2020 Australia
Vision 2020 Australia is part of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, an initiative of the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.