uarterly statistics. This was up 4.3 per cent from the 4,902 optometrists recorded in the Decber 2014 quarter.Of the 5,114 registered optometrists, there were:
- 1,722 in NSW
- 1,320 in Victoria
- 1,020 in Queensland
- 417 in Western Australia
- 273 in South Australia
- 82 in Tasmania
- 75 in the ACT
- 30 in the Northern Territory
These figures included 169 registered, non-practising optometrists.About 51 per cent of registrants were fale, with the male to fale ratio being 2,483:2,631.Forty-six per cent of general registrants were endorsed for therapeutic drugs.The 2014/15 Optometry regulation at work in Australia report recently released by the OBA board also showed a total of 4,915 registered optometrists as at 30 June 2015.This represented a 2.65 per cent increase compared to 2013/14, with 33 per cent of registered optometrists aged under 35.The 55 notifications (complaints) received about optometrists over the 2014/15 reporting period only related to about 1.1 per cent of the registrant base. Sixty-three per cent of notifications closed in that period (excluding NSW) were closed following assessment.It was also noted that 16 registered optometrists were under “active monitoring” at the time of the report’s publication, 56 per cent due to suitability/eligibility.
