Specsavers lifts the lid on its optical dispensing education strategy blending hands-on experience with formal education, driven by the philosophy that training shouldn’t be treated as a one-off event.
The country’s largest trainer of dispensers recently released its largest graduating cohort into the national optical industry.
Of the 284 optical dispensers that graduated from the Australasian College of Optical Dispensing (ACOD), celebrated at the Optical Dispensers Australia International Conference in March 2025, almost half were dispensers from Specsavers stores across Australia and New Zealand.
Each emerged from the program armed with a Certificate IV in Optical Dispensing and more skills and confidence to ensure the best optical solutions are prescribed for patients.
Victorian dispensers, Ms Alicia Simpson from Specsavers Cranbourne Park, and Ms Estelle Zaval from Specsavers Waurn Ponds, Belmont and Torquay, were awarded joint-second in 2024 ACOD class. They are also benefitting from a multi-pronged approach that Specsavers has built into its dispensing training strategy.
Simpson has always known she wanted a job that helped people and had an interest in the medical field, but having no prior qualifications, she wasn’t sure where to start.
“I saw that my nearest Specsavers was hiring for a basic entry level job needing no optical experience, so with my background in retail I thought it would be a great combination of what I had experience in and an opportunity to be involved in the industry I wanted to be in,” she says.
“I loved learning all the ins and outs of my job and because of my interest in learning, my previous boss told me of an opportunity to learn more and develop as an optical dispenser which was the Cert IV – and the rest is history.”
Specsavers head of dispensing advancement Ms Amy Kenefeck says dispensers like Simpson play a key role in bridging the gap between optometrists and patients, ensuring customers receive eyewear that meets both their vision needs and personal preferences.
As the optical industry continues to evolve with new technologies and changing consumer expectations, ongoing training for dispensers has become more important than ever, she says.
“Specsavers has developed a structured approach to dispenser education, combining hands-on experience with formal learning pathways. This ensures dispensers have the skills and confidence to assist customers effectively, covering essential topics such as frame selection, lens technology, and complex prescriptions,” Kenefeck explains.
“We actively support our interested dispensers to participate in ACOD’s Cert IV in Optical Dispensing course, a qualification that deepens their knowledge of the profession.”
For those who don’t wish to pursue a formal qualification, Specsavers also provides “award-winning in-store training, mentoring and support”, where dispensers gain direct experience with products, customer interactions, and technical concepts.
Training embedded into everyday practice
For Zaval, she decided to study for a Cert IV qualification after working as an optical assistant for five years.
“What I enjoy most about dispensing is that you’re always learning. The optical field is always evolving, whether its technology, improving techniques or research. This is a job that you learn through hands-on experience, a learning style that is very suited to me.”
She notes that several dispensers from her store completed the ACOD course together, so she was never short of people to discuss dispensing theory with. Plus, everyone had time and support to complete the training.
“By becoming a dispenser, the company gains people who have a deeper understanding of what it means to provide better vision care,” she says.
“This means better customer service for the patient by someone who is skilled and confident in what they’re doing. When dispensers are trained and confident, it increases job satisfaction, motivation and builds a strong company culture, which is what Specsavers is all about.”
That culture is also galvanised through dispensing-specific events.
Every year, the network delivers the Specsavers Dispensing Conference (SDC) and SDC Mini training events which Kenefeck says have been delivered by both Specsavers leaders and internationally-renowned speakers such as Dr Alicia Thompson, director of education, research and professional development at the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, and the University of Ulster’s Professor Mo Jalie, the author of eight highly regarded textbooks on ophthalmic lenses and dispensing.
“SDC and SDC Mini have covered a wide variety of topics such as paediatric dispensing, aspheric lenses, new product launches and dispensing excellence to name a few,” Kenefeck says.
“We provide all our retail team members with a world class three-level training program called the ‘Specsavers Learning Journey’ which takes approximately 18 months to complete. This begins when a new team member joins and it takes them through everything from single vision, adjustments, and repairs, through to lens form and thickness, high index, atypical and visual defects. Following on from this, we provide continual monthly training to keep our teams up to date on the latest practice knowledge.”
This program was developed in 2018 and now has more than 100,000 pieces of learning completed each month across 7,000 Specsavers team members.
Kenefeck says by creating a structured yet flexible approach to training, dispensers remain informed, skilled, and confident in their roles, helping to maintain high standards of service and expertise.
“Training shouldn’t be treated as a one-off event or available for a select few only – it’s embedded into everyday practice for everyone,” she says.
“By investing in ongoing dispensing training, we’re not just supporting the professional development and upskilling of our team members, we’re also enabling the best possible experiences for our customers so that they continue to prioritise their eye health.”
After many hours of hard work, Simpson says it’s all worth it.
“Whether it’s helping someone see clearly for the first time, saving someone’s sight by encouraging testing when they have concerns or even fixing someone’s glasses because they can’t see without them, these small things for us can mean a lot to those we do them for,” she says.
“Eyesight is the one sense no one wants to lose so if we can help in any way that makes it worthwhile.”
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