As Insight magazine celebrates 50 years of publication, it’s fitting to reflect on the extraordinary transformation of Australia’s ophthalmic landscape over that period. Since 1975, optometry has evolved from a largely refraction-based service to a complex, technology-driven field integral to the nation’s health system. The inclusion of optometry in Medicare, the expansion of therapeutic prescribing rights, and major advances in diagnostics have reshaped how Australians access and experience eyecare. In ophthalmology, from the first foldable IOLs and laser surgeries to today’s AI-assisted imaging and gene therapies, each milestone tells a story of innovation, advocacy, and collaboration – and Insight has been there to report it every step of the way.
1970s
• 1975 – Medibank (later Medicare) includes optometry services.
• 1970s–80s – State optometrist registration boards modernised (varied by state) and optometric associations strengthened.
1980s
• Early–mid 1980s – Modern excimer-laser research and PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) internationally begins to reach clinicians (foundation for later refractive surgery adoption in Australia).
• 1980s – Expansion of university-based optometry education and research programs across Australian universities.
• 1982 – Australian Society of Ophthalmologists forms.
• 1983 – Professor Graham Barrett helps develop the world’s first foldable IOL, the first of his several cataract innovations including the Barrett Universal formula first published in 1993.
• 1987 – Johnson & Johnson’s Vistakon division launches the first disposable soft contact lens, Acuvue, altering consumer behaviour and practitioner prescribing habits.
1990s
• 1990s – Australian researchers Prof Brien Holden, Prof Debbie Sweeney, Prof Mark Willcox, Dr Carol Morris, Prof Klaus Schindhelm and Prof Eric Papas played an integral part in the development and commercialisation of the silicon hydrogel contact lens.
• 1991 – David Huang, James Fujimoto, and Eric Swanson (pictured below receiving a prize from US president Mr Joe Biden in 2023) report the first successful demonstration of OCT, with first commercial instrument released by ZEISS five years later.
Image: Ryan K. Morris/National Science and Technology Medals Foundation.
• 1991 – PRK appears in Australian practice; refractive laser surgery begins to be more broadly offered in the 1990s, including LASIK.
• 1992 – The Fred Hollows Foundation is founded, only five months before Professor Hollows himself passed away from metastatic renal cancer.
• 1992-1994 – Landmark Blue Mountains Eye Study released, being Australia’s first large, population-based assessment of visual impairment and common eye diseases in an older population, providing prevalence benchmarks still referenced today.
• 1992-2000 – formation of a trans-Tasman ophthalmology college, with RANZCO adopting its current name in 2000.
• 1995 – Australasian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (AUSCRS) forms, launching its popular annual event.
2000s
• 2000s – Expansion of community optometry practice models, corporate optical chains scale up, including Luxottica’s OPSM acquisition in 2003, and Specsavers entering market in 2008.
• 2000–2003 – First practical therapeutic prescribing rollouts for optometrists: VIC, TAS, NSW and QLD begin implementing therapeutic endorsement frameworks.
• 2001 – Vision Eye Institute (then known as Vision Group) incorporated, becoming the world’s first publicly listed ophthalmic company and one of the earliest publicly listed group medical practices.
• 2002 onward – Tasmania and then other jurisdictions begin formal implementation of therapeutic endorsements for optometrists.
• 2003–2008 – Anti-VEGF era begins internationally; in 2007 ranibizumab (Lucentis) becomes first PBS-subsidised therapy of its kind in Australia for neovascular AMD.
• 2009 The Australian Society of Ophthalmologists’ “Grandma’s Not Happy” campaign prevents government cuts to the Medicare rebate for cataract surgery.
2010s
• 2010 – National Registration: optometrists regulated under the national registration scheme and national boards (Ahpra); registration and national standards harmonised.
• 2010s – Intraocular lens (IOL) technology advances (multifocal, EDOF lenses) become more routine in Australian cataract surgery.
• 2010s – Corneal cross-linking (CXL) introduced and becomes available for keratoconus management in Australia (clinical adoption over 2010s).
• 2012 onward – Aflibercept (Eylea) lists on the PBS, with anti-VEGF therapies becoming routine and increasingly accessible in Australians for nAMD and other macular diseases.
• 2014 – Optometry Board of Australia (OBA) re-thinks guidelines, after a decision to let optometrists independently manage patients with glaucoma sparks a high-profile legal stoush with ophthalmology and medical bodies.
• 2016 – RANZCO releases first referral guidelines, the glaucoma management pathway, improving collaborative eyecare between optometrists and ophthalmologists, with frameworks for diabetic retinopathy and AMD following after.
• 2016 – George & Matilda Eyecare network launches.
• 2017 – TFOS DEWS II released, providing a global, evidence-based consensus on dry eye disease.
2020s
• 2020 – South Australian ophthalmologist Dr James Muecke AM named Australian of the Year.
• 2020 – Telehealth/tele-optometry adoption accelerates during COVID-19, paving way for new remote consultations model (OPSM).
• 2021 – University of Western Australia launches optometry school, Australia’s seventh (and latest) course.
• 2021 – World Council of Optometry releases new standard of care for myopia, shifting focus from correcting vision to slowing progression through education on lifestyle factors, monitoring, and evidence-based interventions.
• 2020s – TGA approves Australia’s first true gene therapy, Luxturna, indicated for a rare form of inherited retinal disease.
• 2020s – PBS and public funding decisions for new retinal drugs, including faricimab Vabysmo in 2023, and higher dose 8g aflibercept (Eylea HD) in 2024.
• 2022 – Optical Dispensers Australia forms, helping re-organise the profession several years after deregulation.
• 27 Jan 2025 – TGA approves SYFOVRE (pegcetacoplan) – the first treatment in Australia for geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to AMD.
