2024 Barry Jones Vision Oration
We were thrilled to announce that this year’s Barry Jones Vision Oration will be delivered by Summer & Winter Paralympic Medallist, Jess Gallagher.
Jess was 17 when she was diagnosed with a rare, degenerative eye disease. Although her diagnosis impacted her sporting dreams as a netballer, Jess pursued her sporting ambitions to represent her country and become the first Australian athlete to medal at a summer and winter Games, and successfully represented Australia in three sports. In 2023 RMIT University awarded Jess an Honorary Doctorate in Social Sciences, and she has been a past Board Director and advocate for Vision 2020 Australia.
Her oration delivered a personal insight of the journey of resilience and reinvention for an athlete with low vision.
The Barry Jones Vision Oration is proudly presented by The Fred Hollows Foundation, one of Australia’s leading international development organisations, which recently launched a new five-year plan to tackle the growing eye health crisis.
Background to the Barry Jones Vision Oration
As part of our work around raising awareness on critical issues related to eye health and vision care, Vison 2020 Australia established an annual address, the Barry Jones Vision Oration, named in honour of its inaugural Chair Prof the Hon Barry Jones AC who has been a long-standing supporter of the eye health and vision care sector, and continues to support the sector in his role as a Patron of Vision 2020 Australia.
This is the premier annual keynote speech from the eye health and vision care sector.
Previous Orations
2023 – ABC Disability Affairs Reporter, Nas Campanella.
2021 – A/Prof. Kristopher Rallah-Baker, Australia’s first Aboriginal ophthalmologist.
2020 – 2020 Australian of the Year, ophthalmologist Dr James Muecke AM.