NEWS NOW!

Trivia Night for UMelb students

Mon, 21 May 2012 05:18:00 GMT

Apple iPad winner Joe Wang and Device Technologies’ Gary Wyatt

The Garage Café & Bar in Carlton was the venue on 30 April for the ‘University of Melbourne Optometry Students Trivia Spectacular’, sponsored by Heine Australia and Device Technologies.
After arrival drinks and with platters of food placed on their tables, the 80-plus students got down to business forming syndicates and then answering 45 trivia questions on ophthalmic and other topics put to them by MC Michael Yung, Device Technologies’ Australasian learning and development manager.

Midway through those questions, 10 True/False questions were put to them by Gary Wyatt, the company’s national sales manager, ophthalmics. That was for an Apple iPad 3 donated by Insight, which was won by Joe Wang.
Marking the answer papers were Lenore Robertson and Kate Waterhouse (a mammoth task), with Device Technology’s Joe Way and Heine’s Aaron Harvey helping them out.
Members of the winning syndicate were each presented with a $30 Coles Myer gift voucher.

AMA says ‘no’ to drug prescribing by optometrists and other health carers

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:16:00 GMT

In response to a growing trend to grant prescribing rights to more non-medical health professionals, the Australian Medical Association has adopted a formal position rejecting all forms of independent non-medical practitioner prescribing, with the exception of dentists.
The AMA’s rejection includes prescribing of therapeutic drugs by optometrists, which a spokesman for the association has confirmed to Insight.
The association maintains that the only way there should be any prescribing by non-medical practitioners is within strict co-management regimes in medically-designated environments.

Specsavers wins court orders against Buyinvite and director/co-founder

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:15:00 GMT

The announcement of Brisbane as the new home for a new look ODMA2013 has met with enthusiastic support from the industry – so much so that the Optical Distributors and Manufacturers Association’s board has decided to increase the venue booking by 25 per cent, adding 2,500 square metres of floor space to the existing 10,000 square metres.
Defying some recent media coverage [in another ophthalmic publication], general acceptance of the new location and fresh initiatives has led to the need to increase the show’s overall size, the CEO of the show’s organisers Expertise Events, Mr Gary Fitz-Roy, said
ODMA 2013 will be held on 5-7 July 2013 at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, South Bank.

62 enrol in University of Melbourne’s 4-year postgraduate optometry course

Fri, 18 May 2012 00:13:00 GMT

Sixty-two students have enrolled in the University of Melbourne’s four-year postgraduate course in optometry leading to a Doctorate in Optometry (OD).
The majority have completed a three-year undergraduate course, primarily science-based, before entering the four-year postgraduate course, which complies with the seven-year so-called ‘Melbourne Model’ adopted by the university.

According to Professor Algis Vingrys, head of the Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, the students have to have achieved a high GPA (70+) in their undergraduate major and a good GAMSAT score. At present half of them are CFP whereas the others are full fee and open to both local and overseas students.

AVC attendance back down to normal level

Mon, 21 May 2012 05:13:00 GMT

Australian Vision Convention (formerly Queensland Vision) was held at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre on 13-15 April.
It was hosted by the Optometrists Association Australia (Queensland/Northern Territory Division) and attracted 589 optometrists as well as exhibitor staff.
The breakdown of optometrists attending the congress this year was Queensland 382, New South Wales 102, Victoria 55, South Australia 14, Western Australia 10, Tasmania 6, Australian Capital Territory 5 and Northern Territory 1. There were 14 from New Zealand.
According to Optometrists Association Australia (Queensland/Northern Territory Division), the final figure of 589 attendees brought the total back down to the average of
approximately 600 delegates.

Melbourne wholesaler completes 250km, 6-day Sahara marathon

Mon, 21 May 2012 05:15:00 GMT

John Nicola

Victorian John Nicola, managing director of wholesaler Optique Line, finished in the top 35 per cent of entrants (285th out of 853 starters) in the 2012 Marathon Des Sables, a six-day 250km endurance race across the Sahara Desert, described as ‘The Toughest Footrace on Earth’.

He put on his running shoes and joined the ‘elite few’ entrants in the race on 8-14 April as a personal challenge and to raise funds for Optometry Giving Sight in the process.

Optique Line has become a Silver National Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight in 2012.
With the date of the event nearing, he trained intensively for 12 months, averaging 100km per week. He competed in the Melbourne Marathon in October and the Marysville 50km Ultra in November, all in preparation for gruelling conditions where temperatures often reach well above 40°C.

Specsavers wins court case against Coastal Contacts

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 03:33:00 GMT

Specsavers has won a case against discount online contact-lens supplier Coastal Contacts in the Federal Court of Australia over engaging in conduct which is misleading or deceptive, thereby being in breach of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 – prima facie case.

Irvin Borish – author of ‘The Book’ dies aged 99

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 03:27:00 GMT

Professor Irvin Max Borish, OD, one of the true greats of optometry in the United States and therefore significant to the profession at large, died in Boca Raton, Florida, on 3 March at the grand old age of 99 after a brief illness.

British dispensing opticians seek refraction and prescribing rights

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 03:26:00 GMT

The president of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, Ms Jennifer Brower, has proposed that a special register of dispensing opticians qualified to refract and prescribe be set up in the United Kingdom.
The proposal was in relation to future regulation of their profession according to the ABDO, although the association saw refraction remaining a regulated function.

Death of Keith Horton

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:41:00 GMT

Keith Horton, a co-founder of Optical Manufacturers, died on 13 March, aged 87 years.
He, along with Gerald Dagg and Norman Smyth, founded the company in Sydney in 1964, distributing ophthalmic instruments and equipment, frames and cases, and sunglasses.
Staff members of the fledgling company included Chris Hall (later to buy the company in partnership with Bill Heggie), Bill Hyland and Vlasta Novak.
Some years later, the company opened a branch in Brisbane, headed by Bill Heggie.
Keith Horton was born in Queensland in 1925.
His funeral was held at Caloundra on the Queensland Sunshine Coast on 17 March.
An obituary will be in the print version of Insight.

Deakin University launches optometry course

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:50:00 GMT

Deakin University launched its new optometry course on 28 February at a one-day meeting attended by first-year course members, professional-organisation representatives, employers and industry companies.

The meeting was held at the KD Stewart Centre on the Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus.
There were 23 speakers during the meeting, ranging from the history of optometry to career opportunities and details of the course itself.

ODMA2013 to be held in Brisbane

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:45:00 GMT

Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre

The ODMA2013 optical trade fair will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on 5-7 July.
According to the Optical Distributors and Manufacturers Association and the newly-appointed organisers of ODMA2013, Expertise Events, the previous location of the exhibition for many years – the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour – will be demolished next year and a replacement not opened until 2018.
Both ODMA and Expertise Events say Brisbane’s position as the gateway to south-east Queensland provides an ideal location for visitors to combine their show attendance with a personal holiday.
The dates coincide with school holidays across all eastern Australian states as well as shouldering the New Zealand school holidays calendar.
There will be a Hosted Buyer Program targeting specific high-value visitors, with rebates for travel and accommodation, including a focus on key New Zealand buyers.

ODMA 2011

Specsavers to open 30 new stores this year.

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:54:00 GMT

Specsavers announced on 16 February that it has significant plans to grow its store network right across Australia in 2012 – opening 30 new stores this year.

Speaking for the company, business development director Mr Darrel Magna said: “We are very pleased to announce that we will open 30 new Specsavers practices in the coming 12 months, an increase of more than 10 per cent on our current Australian network.

“Hand-in-hand with such a large number of new store openings will come partnership and employment opportunities right across Australia.
We’re looking for optometrists and retail managers to join us as store co-owners; we looking for employee optometrists and great retail staff too.”

Explaining that the new stores openings are in response to continuing growth in consumer demand, Mr Magna said: “Double-digit revenue growth has continued through 2011 and into 2012 and so now is the time to expand our network of practices – to satisfy growing demand and to ensure that our stores are easily accessible to all communities.”

Since Specsavers opened its first Australian stores in February 2008, the company has opened more than 260 stores across Australia and more than 50 in New Zealand.

Hoya closes Adelaide and Perth facilities

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:52:00 GMT

Hoya Lens Australia has closed its Adelaide and Perth customer-service and lens-fitting facilities.

The Adelaide facility was suddenly closed on 20 February and the Perth facility on 21 February. With a few exceptions, all employees have had their employment terminated, including some with up to 30 years’ service.That left the company’s headquarters and laboratory in Sydney and branches in Melbourne and Brisbane.

However eight people at the Sydney facility had their employment terminated on 22 February, as did one at the Brisbane facility.

Hoya Lens Australia has been affected by flooding of Hoya’s ‘super laboratory’ in Bangkok late last year and resulting damage to the 189 free-form lens surfacing machines and to the overall operations there (see separate report).

The Perth branch was opened in 1978. In 2000, Hoya bought Top Optical’s prescription laboratory there and expanded its activities. The laboratory became the backbone of the company’s operations in Western Australia and was also a handy back-up for the main Sydney laboratory because of the time-zone difference allowing receipt of orders, production and dispatch when laboratories on the eastern seaboard were closed.

Hoya is gradually boosting production at its Sydney laboratory, much of which, along with most other major laboratories in Australia, had been wound down considerably as they transferred substantial production to lower-cost laboratories in Asia – either Thailand or China – prior to the flooding there.

Luxottica is dropping Budget Eyewear and Just Specs brands

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:32:00 GMT

Luxottica is dropping Budget Eyewear and Just Specs brands; re-branding as OPSM

The company is also re-branding its Laubman & Pank stores as OPSM in New South Wales and Victoria and will relocate or close some lower-performing stores. Laubman & Pank stores in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia are not affected.
It is understood 112 Budget Eyewear, Just Spectacles and Laubman & Pank stores will close over the next two years – about 20 per cent of Luxottica’s optical stores in Australia.
According to Luxottica, over the next two years more than 50 stores will be added to the OPSM network, moving from 368 to 419 and, by the end of 2015, there will be more than 470 OPSM stores in Australia and New Zealand.
OPSM’s marketing spend will increase by an additional $5 million this year and its store upgrade and refurbishment capital expenditure program will double to almost $40 million in the period.
OPSM will invest $20 million in optical equipment over the next two years.