Optometry Board of Australia sets fee for 2015/16

02 Sep 2015

The Optometry Board of Australia (the Board) has announced that the national registration fee for optometrists for 2015/16 has been reduced.

The Board has reduced the registration fee to $325, which is $40 less than in the previous year. The new fee will apply from 9 September 2015 and cover the registration period for most practitioners of 1 December 2015 to 30 November 2016.

The fee for practitioners whose principal place of practice is NSW is also $325.¹

A fee schedule, including the fee arrangements for practitioners whose principal place of practice is NSW, will be published on the Board’s website.

The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (the National Scheme) is funded by practitioners’ registration fees. The decision to reduce the fee ensures practitioners are not unduly burdened, but still provides sufficient income to allow the Board to meet its obligations in protecting the public.

Board Chair, Mr Ian Bluntish, said that the Board was pleased to be able to lower the fee for the third year in a row and still fulfil its regulatory obligations.

‘We will continue to monitor the costs of regulating the profession in the National Scheme, and with each year of regulation a more accurate picture is forming of the costs to do so, while also protecting the public. The National Scheme has provided a range of opportunities and we continue to review our approaches in the interests of nationally consistent and cost effective regulation,’ Mr Bluntish said.

The Board will also shortly publish the Health Profession Agreement (HPA). The HPA provides information about the Board’s financial operations, outlines the partnership between the Board and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), and the services AHPRA will provide to the Board to regulate the profession.

For more information

• For registration enquiries: 1300 419 495 (within Australia) +61 3 9275 9009 (overseas callers)
• For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200

Download a PDF of this Media release - Optometry Board of Australia sets fee for 2015-16 - 2 September 2015 (120 KB,PDF) 

¹NSW is a co-regulatory jurisdiction.