Number and rate of allied ophthalmic personnel

Measure 4.3: The number and rate of allied ophthalmic personnel, full-time equivalent (FTE), per 100,000 Australian population.

The size and location of the eye health workforce provides a broad indication of access to eye health services.

Visualisation not available for printing
  • In 2016, there were around 4,855 optical dispensers (15 FTE per 100,000), 472 optical mechanics (1.9 FTE per 100,000) and 834 orthoptists (2.7 FTE per 100,000) in Australia.
  • Major cities had the highest number (3,609) and rate (16 FTE per 100,000) of optical dispensers as well as other allied ophthalmic personnel (1,134, or 5.6 FTE per 100,000).
  • New South Wales had the highest number (1,469) of optical dispensers and of other allied ophthalmic personnel (512). The Australian Capital Territory had the highest rate of optical dispensers (20 FTE per 1,000), and Victoria had the highest rate of optical mechanics and orthoptists (6.5 FTE per 1,000).
Previous page
Next page