Mr Andrew Reveley, the owner of Wollongong-based practice Wise Eyes Optical, said he had been hoping to generate more interest in the association at ODMA but had been somewhat disappointed with the response. However, despite the setback, Reveley said he believes the ever-increasing presence of corporate mbers within current associations meant there was now more need than ever for an independent optical association.“The more the corporates get involved with the current associations, the more they dominate their policies and the more they outmanoeuvre the independents,” he said.“Independent stores are closing left, right and centre. A lot of it is natural attrition – aging – but in the past those outlets would have been sold to young and upcoming optometrists. That’s not happening anymore because they’re not as viable as they used to be because of the corporatisation of the industry.”As a result, Reveley has decided to continue with the registration of the Australian Independent Optical Association (AIOA) and has engaged a solicitor to help guide him through the complicated process.“I’ll keep pushing whenever I’ve got the spare time to get this established and get an inaugural mbership happening and see how we can grow it from there,” he said.“Once I have a legal entity perhaps then I’ll be able to attract people more easily.”The creation of a new independent body has been met with some resistance by other associations, in particular the Australian Dispensing Opticians Association (ADOA). In an interview with Insight earlier in the year, the president of ADOA’s Victorian chapter, Mr Leigh Robinson, questioned the rationale behind the move given corporate ployees currently represented just 2% of its total mbership.“There is no need for another optical dispensing association. There will be many opinions regarding ADOA across Australia, most of th driven by a perceived inactivity of the association and a modern day attitude of ‘what’s in it for me?’ by many dispensers. Another association representing the optical dispensing industry in Australia can only serve to fracture and weaken representation for all optical dispensers,” he said.“There are many factors that have changed the marketplace for many optical practices, be it online selling and increased competition from the corporate sector. To counter modern consumerism, it is important that practices develop their own point of difference and raise their standards of service and not rely on ADOA to ‘lobby governments’.”However, Reveley has said he will continue regardless of the objections and is currently appealing for people with experience join the association as office bearers.“There are lots of people, probably at least 60, that have pledged to put money in to get the ball rolling but I need people with expertise. I’ve never stood for the directorship of an association like this and I need somebody that has those sorts of skills to become the president and secretary,” Reveley said.“This is not about me, this is about independents and I’m hoping that a couple of people that have that expertise will step up.”
IMAGE TOP: Courtesy Flickr/DG PL
