Revised standard for Optometry published today

30 Oct 2015

The revised registration standard for recency of practice (RoP) has today been published by the Optometry Board of Australia, which regulates Australia’s 4,915 registered optometrists.

To help optometrists prepare for commencement, the revised standard is being published in advance.

Revised registration standards

Revised FAQ

The revised standard comes into effect on 1 December and will replace the standard that is currently in place. Optometrists will need to meet the obligations of the revised standard by the next registration renewal period on 30 November 2016.

In revising the recency of practice standard the Board has considered the regulatory function of the Board to protect the public and the needs of practicing registered optometrists.

The revised standards were approved by the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council on 27 August 2015 and were part of a scheduled review of standards. A public consultation was held as part of the review. National Boards today published consultation reports providing a summary of the consultation processes, rationale for any changes and proposed way forward, including areas where further work is planned. Submissions from the consultation will be published shortly.

The Board will be publishing a revised professional indemnity insurance (PII) arrangements standard soon, which will be in effect from early 2016.

Additional resources

The following additional resources about the revised standards are available on the AHPRA website. 

• Letters of approval
• consultation reports:
  • Continuing professional development registration standard
  • Recency of practice registration standard
  • Professional indemnity insurance arrangements registration standard
• common FAQs and timetable for commencement