Professional Guide

A Guide on eye health for primary healthcare providers

This Guide is for primary care practices and pharmacies and aims to provide an overview of eye health and vision care and the role of primary health care professionals in preventing vision loss in their local community.

Download the Guide

Key topics covered:

  • Eye health in Victoria: Main causes of blindness and vision loss and who is at risk
  • How to help reduce avoidable blindness and vision loss, including:
    • Asking, educating and referring
    • Integrating eye health into primary practice
    • Medicare Health Assessment 701-707
    • MBS Item 715 Health Assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
  • Knowledge refresher
    • Overview of the main causes of avoidable blindness and vision loss in Australia
    • Other common eye conditions
    • Advice to give to people at risk of vision loss
    • Frequency for eye examinations
    • Children
    • Ocular emergency
    • Costs.
  • The eye health sector
    • Optometry/Ophthalmology/Low vision and rehabilitation service providers

The Guide on eye health for primary healthcare providers was originally developed as part of the Vision Initiative, an eye health promotion program funded by the Victorian Department of Health which ran from 2003 to 2022. It was written the support and input of the Vision Initiative partner organisations (see more detail included within the Guide).

This booklet was last reviewed and published in February 2020. Most information included in the Guide remain up-to-date however please note:

  • The information related to resources and training available (pages 36 to 43) may have changed since the last review. We encourage you to visit relevant pages on this website for more up-to-date information or to contact organisations directly.
  • The Eye Health Kit is no longer available, however, our information sheets are still available to download from this website or to order via the online store.

If you have any questions, please contact us by email at education@vision2020australia.org.au