Getting Involved
Membership Benefits
Membership of your professional body is your insurance policy for your professional future. Through lobbying, promotional, representational and other activities, your Association is working to ensure that optometry as a profession has a positive and exciting outlook for the next century.
Additionally, Association membership offers you a range of benefits, activities and opportunities to assist you in your professional career. These include:
Professional Advice and Assistance
Secretariat Staff and Division Councillors are available to members for advice and assistance on a range of professional, commercial and general matters. The secretariat is open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday and members are most welcome to either telephone or call in for any assistance required.
Member Manual
The Member Manual provides members with a wide range of information on matters that are commonly encountered in the course of optometric practice. The manual will be forward to you once council approves your membership.
Continuing Professional Development
The Centre for Optometric Education (COE) provides a comprehensive program of scientific, management and general interest seminars and courses to assist members to maintain the highest level of clinical and business expertise.
For further information, please contact Rosemary Duffy at the Association by email or by phone on (02) 9713 2038.
Congress/Conferences
The Association conducts (through the COE) a series of Conferences, CPD programs and seminars and a State Congress bi-annually. As well as providing delegates with the opportunity to update clinical and professional knowledge in a wide range of areas, these events provide members with excellent opportunities to meet with colleagues, OAA[NSW] staff and suppliers in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.
Employment Service
The secretariat maintains a comprehensive database of members who are either seeking employment or wishing to employ full-time, part-time or locum optometrists, and positions vacant and businesses and equipment for sale are listed in our Classifieds section, both online and in our monthly Contact newsletter.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
A personal coverage of $2,000,000 per episode (annual maximum of $5,000,000 per member) is included in your membership subscription.
Insurance [Public Liability, Income Protection]
Special discounted rates have been negotiated through our recommended insurer Guild Insurance. For further information regarding insurance, please contact John Apter at Guild on (02) 8567 3602.
American Express
Available upon application, the program provides an Amex card displaying the OAA logo and provides preferred rates and conditions for business and personal use. Application forms are available from our National office by email or phone on (03) 9663 6833.
Publications
Each member receives professional publications including "Clinical and Experimental Optometry", a bi-monthly journal of scientific and general papers; "Australian Optometry", the monthly newspaper of the optometric profession; and "Contact", the news and events newsletter of the NSW Division (also published monthly).
Clinical Practice Library
The secretariat maintains an extensive range of journal articles from some of the world's best optical magazines and journals. New articles are made available to members each month and are listed in the NSW newsletter "Contact". These articles are free of charge to members.
Public Relations
A full range of optical brochures and materials is available to help you to inform patients, other professionals and the community about the scope and benefits of optometric practice. These materials are available at nominal cost to OAA[NSW] members.
Slide Presentation Kits
The Association has developed a number of slide presentation kits to assist members with their optometric presentations. They are available to members for a minimal charge. The kits available are: "Children’s Vision", "Diabetes and the Eye", "Looking After Your Eyes and Vision", "Optometry - Your Vision for the Future", "Our Eyes and Vision", and "Our Eyes and Vision Over 40". All of the above presentation kits are available on CD-Rom.
Equipment Hire
The NSW division has the following items available for hire:
- LCD Data Projector and 35mm Slide Projectors
- Laser Pointers
Booklets/Guides
- Industrial Safety Spectacles and Eyewear
- Locum Tenens Guide for Optometrists
- Optometrists Guide to Employment
- Salary Packaging Guide for Optometrists
- Screening for Childhood Visual Defects
- Starting or Relaunching Your Own Optometric Practice
These booklets are available for download (in PDF format) from the Members Resources section of our website, or in printed format by emailing the Association.
Yellow Pages Listing
Members may list their name, practice address and 1–2 lines of additional information in the Sydney Metropolitan and Country editions of the Yellow Pages directories under the Association logo. Application forms are made available to members as an insert with Contact.
Free Advertising
Members may place a free classified advertisement in either the "Australian Optometry Newspaper" by phoning (03) 9663 6833 or in our monthly newsletter, Contact, by emailing, posting or faxing it to us on (02) 9713 2452 (restriction of 80 words per entry).