Optometry Australia has formed a committee to review and update the entry-level competency standards for optometry graduates in Australia to ensure the standards reflect contemporary practice.

“Optometry practice is changing, community and consumer expectations are changing and the environments in which optometrists work are changing over time, so it’s important the standards reflect this,” said committee facilitator Ben Hamlyn.

Optometry and Dispensing Optician Board (ODOB) chair Jayesh Chouhan and New Zealand Association of Optometrists (NZAO) councillor Geoff Sargent are also on the committee. “It is great to see that there is a representative both from the New Zealand regulator and the New Zealand professional association on the committee and it indicates the importance of the trans-Tasman relationship,” Chouhan said.

The entry-level standards reflect the attributes and skills an optometrist needs when entering the profession, said Hamlyn. “They form the basis for the assessment of optometry courses and assessment of optometrists trained overseas. They also provide valuable information for the public and practising optometrists about what to expect from a newly registered optometrist.”

The Optometry Australia standards, developed in 1993, have been revised on several occasions, most recently in 2015.