Australia Program
Within the community, where it matters.
Australia
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are three times more likely to have poor vision compared with other Australians. People arriving in Australia from refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds struggle to access eye care and vision correction support.
Brien Holden Foundation wishes to advise that this website may contain names and images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now deceased. It also contains links to sites that may also use images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now deceased.
Aboriginal Vision Program
The Aboriginal Vision Program improves access to optometry services for Aboriginal communities, contributing towards the prevention of avoidable vision loss. Brien Holden Foundation provides services directly, guides policy through participating in relevant sector working groups and committees, conducts research, develops & delivers eye health training to primary health care practitioners, and actively collaborates with other organisations working with these communities.
We opened our first optometry clinic in Walgett, New South Wales in December 1999. In 2007, at the direct request of Aboriginal eye health coordinators and their Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, the service was expanded to the Northern Territory.
We work in partnership with these health services to provide visiting optometry services as part of their broader primary health care programs. We train, upskill and mentor primary health care workers to enable eye health checks and referral pathways to be regularly supported by the health centre.
These visiting services, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the Visiting Optometrist Scheme, are currently provided to 140 regional, rural, and remote locations across NSW and NT. For scale, from 2015 to 2019 we provided 39,920 individual eye examinations and 27,204 pairs of glasses to Indigenous Australians.
Eye & Vision Care Toolkit
The Eye & Vision Care Toolkit is a comprehensive package of resources designed to support stronger eye care systems for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Vale Professor Brian Layland OAM
Many will remember Brian as the man, larger than life, who in 1999 approached the AH&MRC along with the late Professor Brien Holden. It would be the beginning of a partnership that has continued to this day, where Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services guide how services are delivered to Aboriginal communities focusing on cultural safety and equity.
Job Opportunity
We are seeking a highly motivated optometrist to join our Australia program in the Northern Territory (NT) to commence in September 2023. This unique role will involve extensive and regular travel (at least 50% of the time) to deliver outreach optometry services alongside a regional eye health coordinator to remote communities mainly based around Central Australia.
Job Opportunity
Join our dynamic team at the Brien Holden Foundation, dedicated to making a positive impact on public health. We are currently seeking a motivated and public health-driven Optometrist to be a key player in our Australia program, based out of Dubbo.
Health Communication: Let’s Talk About Your Eyes
The provision of eye health equipment and training (PEHET) program
Diabetes related vision impairment is almost four times higher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people compared to non-Indigenous Australians and 98% of vision loss in Aboriginal communities is preventable or treatable. The PEHET program is increasing the rate of diabetic retinopathy screening by Aboriginal primary health care services.
Brien Holden Foundation co-ordinates the program supported by the Federal Department of Health and co-leads the program with The Australian College of Optometry through a consortium approach. The consortium also includes the Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia, the Centre for Eye Health and Optometry Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Optometry Student Scholarship
Are you of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent and interested in or currently studying in a tertiary level Optometry/Vision Science course? Then you may be eligible for the Brien Holden Foundation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Optometry Student Scholarship.
In order to be eligible for this scholarship you must meet all of the following criteria:
- You must be 18 years of age or older.
- You must be of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent; Identify as an Aboriginal person, and be accepted by your community and/or the community you live in.
- You must be enrolled in or intending to enrol in a tertiary level related course – Optometry/Vision Science.
- You must be committed to maintaining enrolment as a full-time student during the term of the scholarship.
- You must be a member of Indigenous Allied Health Australia (IAHA). If you are not currently a member, you can apply here.
Refugee Program
We are honoured to be an integral part of refugee health programs across Australia, offering support to the refugees who seek to make Australia home. When they arrive on our shores, Brien Holden Foundation is there, at a number of facilities, to provide eye health examinations and on-going care. We provide a blend of clinical services and eye health training and support to refugee support services in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.
In 2019, every refugee who arrived in Darwin went through a Brien Holden Foundation Eye Clinic. For many, it represented the first time they had ever undergone an eye examination, received a diagnosis or corrective lenses. Eye testing and the receipt of glasses, where necessary, can be crucial moments of progress towards a new life for many of the people seeking to make Australia their new home.
“The eye clinic has created a blueprint for cultural and clinical safety in Refugee Health at Melaleuca,” says Melaleuca Refugee Centre Health Leader, Scott Andrews. “The clinic has created an excellent model to aid the reform process for refugee health in the NT.”
Australian Eye and Ear Health Survey
For the first time, both eye and ear health in Australia will be assessed in a national study of the prevalence, risk factors and impacts of vision and hearing loss in the community. The 2016 National Eye Health Survey was the first nationwide survey to determine the prevalence and major causes of vision impairment and blindness in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians in city, regional and remote areas. In view of increased prevalence of diabetes since the 2016 Survey and the critical eye complications that may follow, the Australian Government Department of Health has sponsored the call to conduct a Second National Eye Health Survey.
It brings together investigators from six institutions: The Centre for Vision Research at The Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR); The University of Sydney; The School of Optometry and Vision Science UNSW Sydney, The George Institute for Global Health, the Brien Holden Foundation and Macquarie University Hearing.
This Survey called the ‘Australian Eye and Ear Health Survey’ will examine close to 5,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Aboriginal Australians over a period of two years. This is the first hearing survey to be conducted, and the second time vision will be studied.
The survey will also fulfil several of the key priorities and actions outlined in the Australian Government’s Roadmap for Vision and Hearing Health.