The Australian College of Optometry (ACO) welcomed a new board director and governance structure at its Annual General Meeting on 30 May 2024.
The meeting, held alongside National Vision Research Institute (NVRI) at ACO’s headquarters in Carlton, Melbourne, welcomed members and stakeholders to celebrate recent achievements, share organisational updates and announce three election seats.
Returning council members Ms Sophie Koh, ACO president, and Mr Darrell Baker were reappointed for a further two-year term.
The ACO also welcomed newly appointed councillor Ms Lien Trinh, a public health optometrist with experience in project roles in Indigenous Eye Health, The Fred Hollows Foundation, Rotary Australia and the Brien Holden Foundation.
“Lien joins a diverse team of optometrists and skill-based professionals who volunteer their expertise to provide strategic and governance oversight,” ACO said.
The meeting acknowledged contributions made by outgoing council members Mr Rodney Hodge (elected member 2018-2024) who served a term as president from 2020 to 2022, and Ms Denise Gronow (skill-based member 2015-2024), who served as treasurer between 2015 -2023.
Members also voted to pass a special resolution proposing updates to the ACO constitution.
“The changes recommended by the Constitution Review Committee reflect modern evidence-based best practice governance, and include changes in terminology, replacing ‘council’, ‘councillor’ and ‘president’ with ‘board’, director’ and ‘chair’,” ACO said.
Other governing changes will affect board structure and director term length, among others.
Ms Sophie Koh, ACO board chair said it was important to ensure the constitution supports the organisation towards its strategic goals and sets it up for future success.
“I would like to extend my thanks to the ACO members Elisse Higginbotham and Ian Bluntish who joined Sayuri Grady, ACO board director and lawyer, and myself to form the Constitution Review Committee and worked diligently to determine a set of recommendations.”
Awards
Several ACO awards were presented at the Annual General Meeting and are outlined in the list below.
Honorary Life Membership Awards
ACO’s Honorary Life Membership is considered its most prestigious award, and is presented to those who have provided “distinguished and meritorious service to the ACO and/or the profession”.
Awarded to: Mr John Cronin and Ms Jean Walters FACO.
ACO Fellowship
ACO Fellowship is awarded to members who have made a significant contribution to the practice and profession of optometry and to the community.
Awarded to:
- Dr Nellie Deen
ACO Outstanding University Graduate Award
In this category, Australian universities are invited to nominate their most outstanding optometry graduate through combined evaluation of academic excellence and professional commitment.
Awarded to:
- Deakin University: Mr Samuel Dent
- Flinders University: Ms Feier Yang
- University of Melbourne: Ms Grace Kennedy
- UNSW Sydney: Ms Yusrah Kanj
- Queensland University of Technology: Mr Eliot Cook
Outstanding Graduate Award for ACO Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics
This award is granted in recognition of the candidate who has achieved the highest score across all assessments for their graduating year of the ACO Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics.
Awarded to:
- Ms Sarah Edwards
The ACO 2023’s Annual Report was also launched during the AGM and can be viewed online at https://www.aco.org.au/aco-publications/
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