Clear Vision - 2025 Federal Election Platform

Nearly 1 in 2 Australians live with a long-term eye condition, a disproportionate number of whom are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. Vision impairment costs the economy $27 billion each year, with many everyday Australians forced to wait interminably for treatment in the public health system and/or pay high out-of-pocket costs for eye care.

Most vision impairment occurs in older people, and so these costs and associated healthcare inequities are only set to grow as Australia’s population undergoes rapid ageing. Looking further afield, the Western Pacific Region in which Australia is situated also has one of the world’s largest and fastest growing older populations.

Fortunately, 90% of vision loss can be prevented or treated if detected early enough. Meanwhile, people whose vision loss is permanent could live much more independently and safely with the right training and support.

OUR ELECTION PLATFORM

To improve eye health and vision care in Australia and the region, Vision 2020 Australia and its members are calling on key decision makers to invest in:

Eye care at the community and primary care level, to improve access to prevention, early intervention and treatment and reduce unnecessary referrals to the public health care system. This is especially important for people living in remote, rural and regional areas.
Provision of early intervention services for older adults with vision impairment, to significantly reduce long-term healthcare costs and the need for support workers. Providing older people with specialised training via block funded low vision service providers will enhance the quality of life of older Australians and reduce the overall cost to the healthcare system.
Well-prescribed, low-cost assistive technologies in the Western Pacific Region, to restore sight for people with reversible vision loss and empower people with irreversible vision loss to perform daily tasks safely and autonomously. By improving the quality of life, health and participation of the millions of people in South-East Asia and the Pacific who urgently need assistive technologies, Australia can bolster its reputation as a generous and constructive regional partner.

In developing this platform, we have worked with more than fifty member organisations involved in local and global eye health, low vision support, health promotion, vision rehabilitation and eye research to identify groups most in need.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We welcome all members and the community to get involved to raise awareness and promote government action on the recommendations contained in our election platform. The ways you can contribute to our campaign are:

Write to your local member of parliament (on behalf of your organisation or as an individual). We have created a letter template that you can use, as well as the postal addresses of all Members of Parliament. If you wish to email instead, you can search for your local member’s electorate email address or contact form here.
Download our social media resources that include assets and associated scripts that you can post to your own social media accounts.