Likely shortage of 1,500 optometrists by 2030: eye-care shortage looms

Adding that to the expected shortage of ophthalmologists in Australia by 2015, with about 30 per cent of the mbership of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists aged over 60, Australia faces an unprecedented shortage of eye-care practitioners to provide eye-care services.
At present, only 6 per cent of optometrists in Australia are over 60 years of age.
Backing up the 1,500-shortage finding, DAE points out that while the Australian population is expected to increase by one third by 2030, the 45-plus age group (by far the greater part of optometrists’ and ophthalmologists’ clientele) is expected to have almost doubled by then, creating greater ongoing dand for ophthalmic services.
Added to that was the decision by the federal government to last year rove optometrists and orthoptists from the Skilled Occupation List at the volition of Optometrists Association Australia, with no consultation with ployers of optometrists, such as Luxottica and Specsavers.