Optometry Victoria South Australia (OV/SA) and Vision 2020 Australia have welcomed the 2024-25 Victorian Budget injection of $6.8 million to expand the Glasses for Kids program over the next three years.
OV/SA said this demonstrates the Victorian Government’s commitment to “addressing the crucial issue of children’s eye health and access to vision care services”, and with the growing prevalence of myopia – that usually begins in childhood – it’s never been more important to focus on enhancing children’s access to regular, quality eyecare.
Similarly, Vision 2020 Australia CEO, Ms Carly Iles, said it was a major step forward in facilitating universal access to eyecare for children.
The program’s expansion means between 2024 and 2027, 108,000 prep to grade three students will benefit from free eye screenings and glasses across 770 government schools.
The original funding commitment was for 34,000 students across 297 schools. Iles said Vision 2020 Australia had been discussing opportunities to improve eye health for children in the state with the Victorian Government over the past 12 months.
“We’re pleased the government has recognised our calls to prioritise the importance of eye health for a child’s learning, development and educational outcomes,” she said.
Mr Timothy Lo, president of OV/SA, added: “We applaud the Victorian Government for prioritising children’s eye care and recognising the importance of ensuring children have access to regular eyecare.”
“Children’s vision and eye health can significantly impact their wellbeing and development, and too often issues go unaddressed. We need to be doing more to ensure all kids have regular eye examinations throughout childhood. This funding boost represents a step in the right direction towards achieving that goal.”
Iles said that the funding injection could pave the way for early detection of visual issues and timely treatment, to prevent life-long vision loss. She added that while the expansion doesn’t cover all Victorian children, it was pleasing that priority will be given to areas of social and economic need.
“Ninety percent of vision issues are preventable or treatable and it’s vital eye health services can be accessed by anyone when they need it,” she said.
“We will continue to engage with the government on behalf of our members to pursue further opportunities to reduce preventable blindness and vision loss and improve accessibility to eyecare.”
The Vision 2020 Australia policy team will convene for the delivery of the Federal Budget on 14 May to review and analyse the detail of what is announced, its impact on the sector and cross-reference with its 2024-25 submission.
More reading
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Federal Budget 2023/24 focuses on Medicare rebuild
Vision 2020 Australia’s 2023-24 Federal Budget wish list
