A number of leading figures in the Australian eye health sector have been honoured in the 2026 King’s Birthday List.
Among those were Queensland Emeritus Professor Leo Carney, who was named on Officer of the Order of Australia for his contribution to optometric and vision sciences through research and clinical practice, and also his contribution to academia and tertiary education.
Prof Carney, who started his career in optometry in Victoria and then Queensland, has held a number of influential and important roles in Australia and around the world, including his current one with the School of Optometry at the Queensland University of Technology.
He was also the founding fellow and is now a life member of the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of Australia, a council member of the International Society of Contact Lens Research, and a former chair of the American Academy of Optometry.
He has held prominent governance roles within optometry in Australia, including chair of the Clinical and Experimental Optometry Review Committee with Optometry Australia and as a member of the Rural Allied Health Undergraduate Scholarship Scheme Reference Group, National Rural Health Alliance.
He has also played prominent roles in academia with a number of university across the globe, including the University of Melbourne, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Auckland University and also Ohio State University.
Prof Carney has also co-authored more than 160 papers, five book chapters, and 35 book chapters on optometry and ophthalmology.
He was made a life member of the Australian College of Optometry in 2019.
Also appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia was Western Australia Professor William Huxley Morgan, for service to ophthalmology, neuroophthalmic physiology, space medicine and health, and to tertiary education.
In a remarkable career spanning a number of disciplines, Prof Morgan, managing director of Lions Eye Institute between 2019 and 2024, was also a board member of the International Space Centre and produced more than 280 publications, with 10,273 citations.
He was also head of department, ophthalmology, at the Royal Perth Hospital between 2000 and 2008, and a co-inventor of the XEN gel micro stent, Virna glaucoma drainage device, and gelatin microfistula surgery for glaucoma therapy.
South Australia’s Professor Konrad Pesudovs has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to optometry and ophthalmology research, and to clinical education and training.
Prof Pesudovs was foundation chair of Optometry and Vision Science at Flinders University between 2009 and 2017, when he was named a council member.
He has held a number of international fellowships around the world, including in the UK, US and China, and has held numerous governance roles in Australian optometry, including as president of the Australian College of Optometry between 2016 and 2020; chair of the National Vision Research Institute of Australia, 2015-2016; and deputy director of the Centre for Clinical Eye Research, 2005-2017.
He was named a fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in 2016, the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of Australia in 1999, American Academy of Optometry in 1995, and the Australian College of Optometry in 1992.
Among the many patents he was responsible for are the Method and Algorithm for Designing Custom Optics, and the Method for Designing and Manufacturing Custom Optics.
Among Prof Pesudovs’ many awards are the H Barry Collin Research Medal, Optometry Australia, 2020, and International Optometrist of the Year, from the World Council of Optometry in 2018.
Joining him as a Member of the Order of Australia is Victoria’s Iain Edwards, for service to community health, and to people who are blind or have low vision.
Edwards, the operations director at Bayside Health’s Community Health and Ambulatory services, was honoured for his many roles in a number of organisations.
These included as senior manager of Community Health and Integrated Care Services at Guide Dogs Victoria, and its interim CEO between 2022 and 2023.
He was chair of the national Guide Dogs organisation between 2016 and 2022, and has been a volunteer, donor and puppy raiser for 30 years.
