The Commonwealth Government has awarded more than 2.1 million dollars to 13 organisations to improve eye health care under the National Eye Health Initiative.
The grants program aims to improve quality, safety and access to eye health care, particularly for disadvantaged groups and people in rural and remote communities.
The National Eye Health Initiative was announced in the 2006-07 Budget, following the release in November 2005 of the National Framework for Action to Promote Eye Health and Prevent Avoidable Blindness and Vision Loss.
The framework encourages governments, health professionals, non-government organisations, industry and the community to work together on eye care issues, with an emphasis on preventing and treating avoidable vision loss.
The National Eye Health Initiative funding of $13.8 million over fours year is in addition to the $600 million that the Commonwealth Government spends every year on eye health care in areas such as ophthalmological and optometric services, pharmaceutical products and vision-related research.
A second round of funding is being made available under the Eye Health Demonstration Grants Program for projects that trial and evaluate innovative approaches to the delivery of eye health care in Australia. This round was advertised in early September 2007 and applications are due by 26 October. Details are available at health.au/tenders.
A list of successful applicants is attached.
Eye Health Demonstration Grants
First-Round Funding
– $197,500 to the Association for the Blind of Western Australia, for a trial and evaluation of innovative methods of eye health education.
– $191,800 to CanDo4Kids – Townsend House, South Australia, to conduct a pilot of a new eye health and low-vision initiative for children and their families through the Children’s Centres for Early Childhood Development and Parenting across the state.
– $159,970 to the Canning Division of General Practice, Western Australia, to engage an Aboriginal Eye Health Worker to improve the coordination of eye health and vision care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients in mainstream general practice.
– $199,810 to the Curtin University of Technology, Perth, for a trial and evaluation of self-management approaches to managing eye disease and injury.
– $75,300 to Glaucoma Australia, to undertake a glaucoma outreach project in northern Queensland and the Northern Territory.
– $200,000 to the Guide Dogs Association of South Australia and Northern Territory, to undertake a pilot to improve the coordination of eye health and vision care services for older people in communities across South Australia.
– $198,896 to the International Centre for Eyecare Education, University of New South Wales, for a training program to develop the skills and knowledge of Aboriginal eye health workers in the Northern Territory.
– $198,550 to the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne, for a pilot project to determine the effectiveness of childhood vision screening for Australia.
– $199,656 to the National Ageing Research Institute, Melbourne, to identify the magnitude of vision impairment and its interaction with environmental problems for older people in residential care in metropolitan and regional Victoria.
– $29,925 to the Queensland Vision Initiative, to undertake an eye health and vision care referral pathways project in metropolitan Brisbane.
– $92,800 to the Royal Guide Dogs Association of Tasmania, for a pilot project to improve the coordination of eye health and vision care across Tasmania.
– $200,000 to the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, to trial and evaluate shared care arrangements in managing glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and age-related macular degeneration.
– $197,800 to the University of Western Australia, Perth, to pilot an integrated telemedicine project to provide specialist eye care services.
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