The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) found complaints against optometrists and other health professionals have increased in Australia during the last year.   

In its annual report for 2021/22, Ahpra said the 68 complaints lodged against 61 optometrists accounted for 0.9% of the profession, compared with 0.7% the previous year. Of these complaints, four were deemed criminal, although 42% of the total optometry cases closed in 2020/21 resulted in no further action, significantly down from 74% the year before. 

Commenting on the findings, Martin Fletcher, Ahpra CEO, said, “The past year has seen our healthcare systems under exceptional pressure and supporting our health workforce is more important than ever. We have aimed to play our part fully to ensure all Australians have access to safe, professional and high-quality registered health practitioners.” 

The majority of optometrist complaints (74.3%) were made by a patient, relative or member of the public and mostly concerned clinical care (57.1%). Other complaints related to documentation (8.6%), communication (5.7%), behaviour and confidentiality (2.9% each). 

Providing a snapshot of the optometry workforce, the report found there are currently 6,500 optometrists in Australia (57.6% women) with 34.8% aged 25-34 years.