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Australian News
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Monday, 05 January 2009 |
On 29 December 2008, Vision Group announced the company had received a number of takeover offers, which had led to shares in the company rising $0.20 to $0.62, an increase of 48 percent.
Vision's chairman, Shane Tanner, said the offers, from both trade and private equity investors, were non-binding and dependent on the company passing due diligence scrutiny.
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Australian News
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Friday, 19 December 2008 |
Bob Lees has been appointed as the new Chairman of the National Committee, Optometry Giving Sight in Australia. Bob is a partner in the Lees and Henschell Optometrists practice in Queensland and has been an active member of the National Committee for two years.
Supporting Bob on the National Committee will be new Deputy Chair, Ian Breadon of Breadon and Ruegg Optometrists, Victoria; Micheal Knipe, Chairman of ProVision and partner in Total Eyecare in Tasmaina and Amanda Davis, COO of ICEE.
Madeleine Whiting, Australasian Manager thanked retiring National Chair, Professor Brien Holden, and said that he will now focus on his position as Chair and CEO of Optometry Giving Sight at a global level. She also welcomes new Committee members Dorothy McDiarmid, retired industry professional; and Graham Hill of Graham Hill and Associates, Victoria.
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Australian News
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Monday, 15 December 2008 |
The Head of the School of Optometry and Vision Science at UNSW, Professor Fiona Stapleton (picture), has been awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence – Postgraduate Research Supervision for 2008.
The UNSW Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision recognise and encourage sustained excellence in postgraduate research supervision. Up to two awards are allocated each year.
Professor Stapleton's achievement will be recognised with the presentation of a medal at the appropriate Graduation Ceremony in 2009.
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Australian News
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Wednesday, 03 December 2008 |
Dr Iain Dunlop has been re-elected as President of RANZCO for another one year term. The Vice President, Dr Bill Glasson, has also been re-elected for another term.
These appointments were confirmed during RANZCO's 40th Annual Scientific Congress in Melbourne from 22-26 November. West Australian ophthalmologist, Dr Annette Gebauer, was elected to the College Board of Directors.
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Australian News
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Thursday, 27 November 2008 |
Monash University is looking for participants who are blind for user studies that will investigate the effectiveness of different layouts of tactile diagrams such as bar charts, pie charts and network diagrams.
The diagrams will be presented in tactile format where the texts will be in Grade 1 braile. Prior experience with tactile diagrams is not required.
In the user studies, a number of tactile diagrams will be presented to participants and a set of questions will be asked to evaluate the effectiveness of the diagrams. The study will be held either at Monash University, Clayton campus or the Vision Australia Kooyong centre, depending on the participant's preference.
Each participant will receive $20 for their assistance.
If you are interested in taking part in these user studies or have any questions, please contact student researcher Cagatay Goncu at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call (03) 9905 5779.
The supervisors are Professor Kim Marriott and Associate Professor John Hurst.
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Australian News
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Monday, 24 November 2008 |
More than 300 million people, worldwide are blind or vision impaired because they don’t have access to the type of eye care provided by Dorothy Butler, in the Northern Territory of Australia, according to Professor Brien Holden, CEO of ICEE.
Dorothy (Dot) Butler is the Regional Eye Health Coordinator for Wurli Wurlinjang Health Service, an Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) in Katherine.
In between visits to communities in her care and general health care duties, she manages the busy list of referrals to visiting ICEE Optometrists as well as local Ophthalmologists.
Dot’s role as Regional Eye Health Coordinator covers an area from Katherine in the north to Lajamanu in the south and east to Borroloola, an area larger than some European countries.
Dot is a warm, generous character and, like so many health care workers, when you scratch the surface you find an ambitious, hard working woman dedicated to good eye care and healthy vision for the Indigenous people of her communities.
Robyn (pictured) hadn’t visited the Eye Clinic at Wurli, as its known locally, for an eye examination until recently when she met ICEE Optometrist, Tricia Keys. After a car accident that lead to the removal of her left eye in 2004, further damage in her right eye, has left Robyn close to blind.
On examination Tricia discovered, through a strong lens in a trial frame used to assess Robyn’s prescription, the vision in her right eye could be improved allowing her to see well for the first time in years.
Brien Holden is less known at home in Australia than he is internationally where he is renowned for his contribution to public health and vision correction research. He works exhaustively on the issue of global eye care but worries that the problem of unnecessary vision impairment and blindness due to refractive error is a burgeoning global health crisis.
“We talk about 300 million people, but the number doesn’t include those suffering from presbyopia. If we were to include that number, then uncorrected refractive error (URE) would be considered one the biggest health care challenges facing us today,†he said.
“The reality is that as we age our eyes begin to deteriorate, a condition known as presbyopia. It affects most of us over by the age of 45 years. Usually, a pair of glasses is all that is needed to correct the problem.â€
“It’s an established fact - visual impairment has a direct link with poverty,†said Prof Holden.
In developing and remote communities around the world, getting access to eye care is often difficult and not always because of the cost involved. “To get an eye examination it can involve travelling long distances and leaving work and family to get there.â€
“There is a long list of other deterrents that prevent millions worldwide from getting access to an eye examination and the right pair of glasses, but not addressing a vision problem can have devastating consequences.â€
“That’s why the work of Dot Butler at Wurli Wurlinjang Health Service is so important,†he added.
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