Proudly supporting The Fred Hollows Foundation

Specsavers has been proud to support The Fred Hollows Foundation and its Indigenous Australia Program since 2011. Right now, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are three times more likely to go blind than other Australians simply because the health system is not meeting their needs. But it doesn’t have to be that way and we can all do something about it.

Every year The Fred Hollows Foundation is helping to close the gap in eye health by ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can access high quality, culturally safe and patient centric eye care, while delivering life changing surgery and treatment to people in remote communities across Australia.

Since 2011, Specsavers has donated more than $6.1 million to The Fred Hollows Foundation to help fund vital projects that improve the delivery of eye health services, strengthen health systems, and build a workforce for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to help end avoidable blindness.

Over this time, our donations have helped The Foundation, and its program partners, to:

Screen over 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People for eye health conditions
perform over 7,000 treatments for Diabetic Retinopathy
Conduct over 4,000 cataract surgeries and 16,000 other sight saving operations
Perform over 7,000 treatments for Diabetic Retinopathy
Train over 800 people to deliver culturally responsive care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

Woman optician Readers Digest Quality Service Award

Fred Hollows Foundation Partnership | Specsavers Optometrists.

Fred Hollows Program Partners

The Fred Hollows Foundation works with and through 12 different program partners across Australia to identify key challenges in the health system that prevent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples from accessing the right eye care, in the right place and at the right time, and together work towards place-based design solutions to overcome these systemic barriers, build stronger health systems for all, and empower and build the capacity of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations to meet the eye care needs of their communities.

Through ongoing donations from Specsavers, The Fred Hollows Foundation is able to support many important initiatives, including;

CheckUp (QLD)

An organisation dedicated to delivering better health for people and communities who need it most. Our donations support the funding of two Eye Health Coordinator positions working to deliver culturally competent eye health services to communities in Palm Island and Gigdee Healing, servicing Mt Isa, Doomadgee and Mornington Island.

Lions Outback Vision (WA)

Lions Outback Vision works to prevent avoidable blindness and restore sight to people by developing and implementing innovative and sustainable models of quality specialist eye health services to regional, remote and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Western Australia. Our donations support the operations of the Lions Outback Vision Van, a diabetic retinopathy screening program, and a full-time ophthalmologist. The Foundation’s work with Lions Outback Vision has resulted in a vast improvement in delivery of care and patient pathways across the state, which in turn has increased the number of patients receiving care.

Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VIC)

As the only Aboriginal Community Controlled medical service in the state, VAHS not only provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples with high quality and affordable access to healthcare but is also committed to supporting the wellbeing of the community through contributions to community events and activities. Our donations support the funding of an Aboriginal Liaison Officer to facilitate eye health clinics, ensure patients are triaged for ophthalmology, as well as accompanying and speaking to patients on treatments and their options. This crucial role builds a culturally-responsive eye care model at VAHS to ensure patients feel sale and supported when accessing eye health care.

Nganampa Health Council (SA)

The Nganampa Health Council delivers eye care services to residents across the remote Anangu Pitjantjatjara Pankunytjatjara (APY Lands), 100,000 square kilometres in the north-west corner of South Australia. Each year Nganmpa Health Council conducts up to 60,000 patient consultations. Specsavers donations support the funding of a vital Eye Health Nurse who delivers screenings, eye treatments and community education to improve the eye health, health-seeking behaviours, and environmental health of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The Eye Health Nurse is a vital link between the ophthalmology and optometry visits from Adelaide and Alice Springs, referring patients and supporting their treatment pathways.

Alice Springs Hospital (NT)

Alice Springs Hospital in Northern Territory, which delivers ophthalmology services across the Central Australia and Barkly regions. This includes regular visits to the Tennant Creek Hospital to provide monitoring and treatment of eye conditions and timely cataract surgery as well as visits to remote communities across the region to provide specialist care. Our donations support the funding of an Aboriginal Liaison Officer who facilitates culturally appropriate eye care to 37 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the area. The Aboriginal Liaison Officer provides language, cultural and emotional support to patients who might be nervous about having their eyes checked or undergoing eye treatment. Both roles are essential in coordinating eye health appointments for patients, transport to and from the clinics and education on the importance of regular eye health checks and treatments.

Outback Eye Service (NSW)

Outback Eye Service in New South Wales, which delivers much-needed eye care to one of the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations in the far-west of the state. OES are focused on providing culturally safe eye care screenings and treatments to communities that are critically under-funded, under-equipped and under-staffed through outreach services and telehealth consultations. Our donations support the fund of an Orthoptist and Aboriginal Eye Health Coordinator, who travel with a team of eye health professionals into regional areas of NSW such as Lightning Ridge and Bourke.

Did you know?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults are three times more likely to go blind than other Australians.
Currently, 90% of vision loss experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People is treatable or preventable.
35% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have some form of eye or sight issue, including 13% of children.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are almost 4 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Indigenous Australians, and 1 in 3 have diabetic retinopathy (a complication of diabetes that can cause vision loss and blindness).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples wait almost 40% longer for cataract surgery even though blinding cataract is 12 times more common than for other Australians.
98 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities remain at risk of trachoma The Fred Hollows Foundation’s vision is to end avoidable blindness and ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples can always exercise their rights to sight, good health, and self-determination.