Gender-Inclusive Eye Care Symposium

The Australian College of Optometry (ACO) has a proud history as an independent, not-for-profit, membership-based organisation dedicated to preserving sight and preventing blindness. Since its foundation in 1940, the ACO has remained committed to improving eye health outcomes through the provision of comprehensive public eye care services (to communities experiencing disadvantage), vision research, and professional education. Since February 2025, ACO’s accessible, equitable optometry care is provided under the name ACO Eye Health.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has estimated that 4.5% of Australians aged 16 years and over are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or gender diverse, or intersex (LGBTQIA+), impacting a higher proportion of young people including 9.5% of people aged 16 to 24 years and 7.5% in the 25–34 year old category¹. ACO Eye Health has recognised the need to create a welcoming and culturally safe environment for LGBTQIA+ patients, and to guide this process established a Rainbow Working Group chaired by optometrist Alice McLennan in 2022.

On Sunday 15 June 2025, the ACO will host a Gender-Inclusive Eye Care Symposium to inform optometrists about the clinical eye care and cultural safety needs of LGBTQIA+ patients, who often experience barriers accessing safe and inclusive eye care. A diversity of topics will be presented, including clinical insights from a general practitioner and a nurse practitioner, as well as perspectives from optometry and ophthalmology. Interactive workshop exercises will complement this background knowledge to ensure optometrists feel comfortable and confident using culturally safe terminology when asking questions about gender and eye health care needs in the LGBTQIA+ community.

We invite all members of the eyecare community to join us.    

1. https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/abs-releases-first-ever-estimates-lgbti-australians