Vision 2020 Australia

Today we celebrate World Braille Day and its life-changing impact for people who are blind or have low vision. Braille is one of the key tools that enables social inclusion and participation for people who are blind or have low vision, including education, employment, freedom of expression and opinion. World Braille Day is a reminder of the importance of literacy as a basic human right and the need for everyone to have access to the same literacy materials.

As the holiday season approaches, we’d like to thank you for your support over the past 12 months. We hope you have the opportunity to enjoy the company of friends and family over the next few weeks. Our office will be closed from Friday, December 20 while the team take a well-deserved break. We’ll be back on January 6, 2025. 

Today we celebrate International Day of People with Disability and acknowledge the 4.4 million Australians with disability, which includes almost half a million people who are blind or have low vision. This year's theme is amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future, a theme that we are extremely proud to promote and deliver upon within our organisation. You can find out more on #IDPwD on the website: https://www.idpwd.com.au/

A key ask by Vision 2020 Australia to the Federal Government has been realised with the announcement of investment for assistive technology (AT) in the Indo-Pacific. The commitment is part of the new International Disability Equity and Rights Strategy, launched at Parliament House today, ahead of International Day of People with Disability on December 3. It includes $12 million to expand access to essential assistive technology across the Indo-Pacific. This mirrors Vision 2020 Australia’s ask of the government to allocate an additional $12 million to improve access to affordable, high-quality assistive technology and wrap around services, in partnership with Pacific-led organisations. As the national peak for eye health and vision care, this call for action has been led by our members with expertise in the region, such as The Fred Hollows Foundation, the Brien Holden Vision Foundation and CBM Australia, as well as consultation and support from like-minded organisations including The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), and the Australian Disability and Development Consortium (ADDC). You can read more here: https://bit.ly/3ZgQDQm Australian Disability and Development Consortium Pacific Disability Forum BHVI Australian Council for International Development CBM Australia The Fred Hollows Foundation

Our CEO, Carly Iles, today joined a delegation of organisations dedicated to advancing disability equity to discuss the need for increased support of Assistive Technology (AT) in the Pacific with the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy. AT can play a critical role in ensuring people with both reversible and irreversible vision loss remain independent, benefiting the health, economic and social well-being of individuals and communities. Well-prescribed, low-cost equipment can allow people with irreversible vision loss to perform daily tasks with independence. For those with reversible vision loss, AT solutions like glasses and surgery can restore vision, often without further intervention. Vision 2020 Australia is calling for the Australian Government to help improve the quality of life, health and participation of the millions of people in South-East Asia and the Pacific, where the need is immense and who urgently need assistive technologies. Australian Disability and Development Consortium Pacific Disability Forum BHVI Australian Council for International Development CBM Australia The Fred Hollows Foundation

Vision 2020 Australia held our final parliamentary eye screening for 2024 and we were thrilled to visit Tasmanian Parliament for the first time to give parliamentarians and staff the opportunity to love their eyes with a free eye check. We're grateful for the support of Minister for Health, Hon Jacquie Petrusma MP for championing the message to #LoveYourEyes, as well as Premier, Jeremy Rockliff, and Deputy Premier, Guy Barnett MP, who were generous with their time to meet the team and learn more about the work being done across eye health and vision care. As always, special thanks to our members, VisAbility Tasmania and Guide Dogs Tasmania, as well as iCare and the amazing local optometrists, including Andrew from Total Eyecare Optometrists and Luke from Bupa Optical Hobart for making the day a huge success.

Today is World Diabetes Day, and many Australians experience vision loss as a result of diabetes. This is mainly because nearly half of all Australians with diabetes aren’t having regular diabetes eye checks. It's important to include regular eye checks for people with diabetes because treatment can prevent vision loss with early detection. Vision 2020 Australia member, Diabetes Australia has an excellent support resource, KeepSight, which makes it easier for people with diabetes to have regular diabetes eye checks and provides information to maintain your eye health. You can check it out here - https://lnkd.in/dnSHrMt

Last month Vision 2020 Australia partnered with our member OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation for a screening at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) in Dandenong to highlight the important efforts of the Refugee Resource Hub centre and OneSight to ensure asylum seekers have access to eye health and vision care services. We're proud to be able to tell the story of this important service that helps people receive life changing eyecare services.

October has been Mental Health Month and the theme this year was “It’s time to talk about mental health.” Depression and anxiety are amongst the mental health issues that may emerge for people with vision loss. These feelings may be amplified or prolonged as individuals are diagnosed and adapt to their vision loss. In a survey of eye health and vision care professionals, there was strong agreement that they have a significant role in referring at-risk patients and that mental wellbeing and vision loss is an important area of education and development. Vision 2020 Australia and our membership are committed to improving the mental wellbeing supports for people living with vision loss in Australia. We have two resources available to support this. The Mental Wellbeing Resource Guide (https://bit.ly/3X0JJNZ), centralises services and supports that are available to people with vision loss. The Adult Referral Pathway for Blindness and Low Vision Services (https://bit.ly/4eoZyoY) is intended to streamline the process of integrate mental health supports into eye care for clinicians.

A wonderful reflection from our Board Director, Associate Professor Dr Kris Rallah-Baker on the passion he has for improving eye health and creating a last impact for so many.