The Optical Distributors & Manufacturers Association of Australia (ODMA) and the Victorian arm of Optometry Australia, Optometry Victoria, have joined forces to launch Omega19, a biennial event being billed as the largest education, eye care and eyewear event ever seen in Australasia.

Omega19 will replace Optometry Victoria’s Southern Regional Congress (SRC) and the biennial ODMA fair, which last year attracted around 900 optometrists and about 3000 delegates, respectively.

Launching the new event at ODMA’s popular boutique O-Show fair in Melbourne in July, ODMA chair Rob Sparkes said this was the most significant change to the optometric events landscape in Australia for many years. “Omega combines the most credentialed and largest annual optometry conference in the southern hemisphere with the largest eye care and eyewear show in Australia… In the new global landscape of optics, we cannot wait for change. We need to deliver change. We hope the entire industry will embrace this united joint venture.”

Omega19 will be held at the newly-expanded Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and will include dedicated exhibition-only time to suit both delegates and exhibitors alike, said Murray Smith, president of Optometry Victoria. “We think Omega19 will be extraordinary. (It) brings the best of SRC and ODMA fair together.”