The School of Optometry and Vision Science conducts the following clinics:

Our general examination clinics are conducted at the following times:

Session 1 (March-June):
Monday 6.15 pm and 7.30 pm
Tuesday 9.00 am and 10.30 am
Wednesday 1.30 pm and 3.00 pm
Friday 8.30 am and 10.00 am, 12.30 pm and 2.00 pm

Session 2 (July-November):
Monday 9.00 am, 10.30 am, 12.30 pm, 6.15 pm and 7.30 pm
Tuesday 9.00 am, 10.30 am and 12.30 pm
Wednesday 1.30 pm and 3.00 pm
Friday 8.30 am, 10.00 am, 12.30 pm and 2.00 pm

During Session recesses, Staff Optometrists perform examinations between 9.00 am and 4.00 pm, Monday to Friday.

The General Clinic at the School of Optometry and Vision Science operates as a comprehensive Optometric Clinic, which is available to members of the public as well as the University community. A letter of referral is not required although examinations are by appointment only.

Patients with special requirements can be accommodated and eye examinations are conducted at no cost to the patients during the University session period.

All patients attending the General Clinic receive a comprehensive eye examination. This includes:

Where appropriate, patients will receive a comprehensive examination of the internal eye, facilitated by mydriatic eye drops which make the pupil of the eye larger. Photography of the internal and external eye is also available for patient management. At the conclusion of the examination, a discussion of the results and the appropriate course of action will occur and a prescription issued if required.

If spectacles are indicated, the General Clinic provides a comprehensive spectacle dispensing facility which includes an extensive collection of fashion frames, lenses, safety spectacles and accessories.

The Optometry Clinic acts as an agent for the free spectacle schemes operated by the Department of Community Services and the Department of Veteran Affairs. Patients who may be entitled to free spectacles may obtain their spectacles through the Optometry Clinic.

General Clinic enquiries and appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

Many serious visual problems are preventable if detected and treated early.

From our first days of life, our visual system is used to take in and process information. It is well known that if a child does not see clearly or if there eyes do not work effectively together then a childs development, performance in learning and classroom tasks may be affected. Therefore the management of visual problems at an early age provides the child with clear, single and efficient binocular vision, allowing them the capacity to function to the best of their ability. Consequently, all children should be examined by three years of age.

Children may be examined in the Children's Vision Clinic where the examination can be designed to meet the needs of the young child.

Special testing procedures for this age group will put your child at ease and assist the clinician to obtain accurate and valuable information.

If your child has an eye or vision problem which cannot be assisted with standard treatment, a referral to one of our speciality clinics will be made.

Children's Vision Clinic appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

For Further Information on the Children's Vision Clinic:
Email: Rosemary Paynter
Telephone: (02) 9385 4349

Colour vision assessments are conducted in the colour vision clinic for both congenital and acquired colour vision deficiencies.

Congenital colour vision deficiencies affect approximately 8% of males and 0.5% of females.

The severity of the colour vision deficiency may change with time.

At the UNSW Colour Vision Clinic, optometrists can measure both the type and the extent of colour vision deficiencies. Once this information is known, clients can discuss with the optometrist the occupational and practical consequences of their colour vision.

Examinations are also conducted at the UNSW Colour Vision Clinic to assess the suitability of clients for tasks requiring precise colour discrimination, for example, colour matching and quality control work. Reports of colour vision assessments are provided on request.

Colour Vision Clinic appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

For Further Information on the Colour Vision Clinic:
Email: Paula Katalinic
Telephone: (02) 9385 5550

Many people today who require glasses can be better served by wearing rigid, gas permeable or soft contact lenses. Some wear contact lenses to improve their vision, others so that they can be more involved in sporting activities, and others because they look better in contact lenses than in glasses.

The clinic provides a complete range of contact lens designs, materials and lens care products and has considerable experience in the fitting of complex lens forms to challenging patients by utilising advanced computerised corneal modelling systems. However a general eye examination must be conducted in our General Clinic prior to a contact lens evaluation. To minimise any possible problems, patients must attend scheduled follow-up appointments after the contact lenses have been prescribed and dispensed.

Contact Lens Clinic appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

For Further Information on the Contact Lens Clinic:
Email: Effey Kokkolis
Telephone: (02) 9385 5288

The Diabetes Centre at the Prince of Wales Hospital offers a comprehensive service for diabetic patients, with patients having access to endocrinologists, diabetic educators, nurses, dieticians and podiatrists.

The School of Optometry and Vision Science provides initial eye examinations for newly diagnosed diabetic patients and patients returning for continuing care. If patients require additional eye care, they are referred to the Eye Clinic at the Prince of Wales Hospital for further assessment and treatment.

Patients are usually either referred to the Centre by their local medical practitioners to participate in a shared care management of the patient's diabetes, or the diabetes is managed by the staff within the Centre.

Diabetes Clinic appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

For Further Information on the Diabetes Clinic:
Email: David Pye
Telephone: (02) 9385 4359

Keratoconus is a condition which affects vision as a result of an irregular shape of the eye's primary light bending structure at the front of the eye called the cornea.

The Optometry Clinic has advanced techniques for the evaluation of keratoconus, and initial discussions with patients regarding their condition may take up to 2 hours whilst all options for management and visual correction are discussed.

The Optometry Clinic has experienced practitioners who have access to an extensive range of contact lenses specifically designed to fit the keratoconic eye, and to provide the patient with the best possible vision.

We often co-manage patients with their local optometrist so that when we perform the task requested of us, the patient returns to their local optometrist for continuing care.

Keratoconus Clinic appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

For Further Information on the Keratoconus Clinic:
Email: David Pye
Telephone: (02) 9385 4359

The Low Vision Clinic provides a service for people who have permanent visual impairment. These people have reduced vision that cannot be corrected to normal levels by standard spectacles or contact lenses. The most common causes of low vision are cataract, glaucoma, diabetes and macular degeneration. The purpose of this clinic is

Optical appliances such as magnifying glasses or specifically designed filters are useful in most cases. We prescribe and provide the best possible magnifier for each individual case. In some cases of severe vision loss, we may have to provide specialised devices such as very strong reading glasses, telescopes or reading machines (closed circuit television). We have a strong understanding of Adaptive Technology and can help introduce you to the exciting new world of electronic aids. Often there is a need to provide assistance for problems with daily living skills or mobility. We work closely with other professionals in the Guide Dogs Association (NSW) and the Royal Blind Society and can refer you when required. Our clinic has been designed to match the needs of people with low vision. Your visit will not be rushed and you will have ample time to talk about your needs and concerns to a person who understands your problems.

Low Vision Clinic enquiries and appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

The Occupational Optometry Clinic at the School of Optometry and Vision Science provides services aimed at improving and optimising vision at work.

Services address isses such as:

Occupational Optometry Clinic enquiries and appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

The Review Clinic is primarily a referral clinic where patients with ocular disease are examined. This clinic also exists for patients returning for continual re-assessment and monitoring, or for patients undergoing co-management of their ocular diseases.

The Review clinic is also a means for final year optometry students to see interesting ocular pathology under the guidance of experienced practitioners, including both optometrists and ophthalmologists. The students gain further experience and knowledge from observing changes which may occur to the eye, whilst the patient receives a comprehensive ocular health eye examination.

Conditions seen and monitored in the clinic include:

If necessary, patients are referred to the appropriate medical practitioner for further evaluation.

Specialized testing includes:

Where possible, copies of photographs are forwarded to patients.

Members of the public, including university staff, are examined on referral from health care practitioners,
or from any of the other clinics in the School of Optometry and Vision Science, at no charge to the patient.

Review Clinic appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

For Further Information on the Review Clinic:
Email: Anna Delmadoros
Telephone: (02) 9385 4323

The School of Optometry and Vision Science established the Vision Education Centre in 1990 to offer a science excursion and health service to primary school children.

From our first days of life, our visual system is used to take in and process information. It is well known that if a child does not see clearly or if their eyes do not work effectively together, then a childs development, performance in learning and classroom tasks may be affected. Therefore the management of visual problems at an early age provides the child with clear, efficient binocular vision, allowing them the capacity to function to the best of their ability.

The excursion to the Vision Education Centre includes a one hour health and science unit on eyes and visual science, as well as a comprehensive eye and vision examination for the children. Three educational packages have been prepared with information appropriate for infants, lower and upper primary school children and are delivered using "child-centred" teaching principles. On arrival, each class is welcomed with a brief introduction and then divided into two groups. Whilst one group has their eyes examined in the Clinic by final year students, the second group goes to the education class room and receives a short talk followed by hands-on science activities based on optics and physiological optics of the eye.

The science activities are led by the Outreach Centre for Sciences within the University and optometry students who act as buddies to small groups of three or four school children. After one hour, the children come together for the refreshments we provide and the two groups interchange. An activity book with diagrams, word games and home based projects is given at the end of the day to reinforce terms and concepts covered during the visit. Parents are given questionnaires before the visit so that any children with particular visual or educational concerns can be identified. Teachers are welcome to advise us of those students for whom they have concerns.

After the visit, parents are sent a report of findings of the eye examination, and teachers are alerted regarding which children require further attention. Parents of any child found requiring further investigation have the choice of consulting their local practitioner or returning to the Clinic at the School of Optometry and Vision Science where we have paediatric optometrists.

The benefits of the scheme are numerous and far ranging. We see the Centre as a community health and education resource. For many children, the eye examination is their first contact with an eye care practitioner. It is hoped that the educational segment, because it is presented as a school excursion, will make a lasting impression on children and emphasise the important role that their eyes play in their lives and the need for eye care. The visit is also an opportunity for children to see inside a university, and to gain a better understanding of the spectrum of education - primary through to tertiary.

The school teachers involved in the programme have responded very positively, finding the educational segment a very useful contribution towards their health and science curricula. The eye examination findings gained can also offer further professional input regarding the development of students with learning difficulties. The university also benefits. Our final year optometry students who carry out the visual examinations greatly broaden their experience and confidence, and can sense their aptitude for paediatric optometry. Second year students are given an opportunity to develop child-handling skills pre-clinically, and to consolidate their basic optometric understanding while leading the activities and explaining the principles to the young children.

This early experience does make their final year less threatening in terms of patient handling and communication.

Finally, the Vision Education Centre provides an opportunity for the University to develop a higher profile in the general community. Universities now actively encourage greater liaison with the community, and seek to facilitate a raised awareness of science within the area. This Centre addresses both these aspects, and offers a wonderful example of interactive learning, at every level of those involved, viz., children, school teachers, optometry students, tertiary educators and researchers. The response from staff, primary and tertiary, has been most positive. The children obviously enjoy their visit to the university and are most attentive during their introductory talk. For our optometry students, the Centre has provided wonderful motivation to further their understanding of the visual problems in youngsters. We currently have several schools attending the clinic bringing children from Kindergarten to Year 6 and we are in the process of approaching other schools in the area. As a teaching institution all visits for eye care, including a visit to the Vision Education Centre, are free of charge. In the past a generous donation was received which contributed towards the main costs of running this programme, which included bus transport to and from the school and printing costs. Unfortunately the funding for the bus has now ceased and we are therefore unable to assist with this cost.

Vision Education Centre enquiries to:
Email: optometry@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4639

This clinic provides for the assessment and treatment of problems which arise when your eyes do not work together efficiently or effectively.

Emphasis is placed upon the best procedure to correct eye muscle co-ordination imbalances, with individual eye exercise programmes designed to develop co-ordination of the two eyes for most efficient and comfortable viewing.

Visual conditions such as eye strain and double vision may also be assessed in this clinic, as well as visual and visual perception dysfunctions which may result in learning difficulties.

Vision Training Clinic appointments to:
Email: optomclinic@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4624 or (02) 9385 4627

For Further Information on the Vision Training Clinic:
Email: Rosemary Paynter
Telephone: (02) 9385 4349

The School of Optometry and Vision Science provides support for the Eye Team from the Department of Ophthalmology at the Prince of Wales Hospital in the eye care of aboriginal people, and the general population, in Bourke in outback NSW.

On a regular basis, the School provides an optometrist and optical dispenser who fly to Bourke via the Royal Flying Doctor service to examine patients at the Bourke Aboriginal Medical Service.

The optometrist examines the patients to determine their best visual correction and the optical dispenser assists the patients with spectacle frame selection and providing measurements to ensure that the spectacle lenses ordered will be appropriately placed in the selected spectacle frame.

Where possible, the spectacles will be provided at no charge to the patient through the VisionCare NSW spectacle scheme and, in many situations, spectacles may be available to the patient on the same day as the eye examination.

During the past 2½ years the School has provided over 120 pairs of spectacles in this programme.

For Further Information on the Bourke Satellite Clinic:
Email: d.pye@unsw.edu.au
Telephone: (02) 9385 4359

Australia's first Guide Dogs Centre began operating from two old tramcars in Perth in 1952. From this humble beginning, Guide Dog Associations (GDA) were established in several states to raise funds for clients to fly to Perth for training with Guide Dogs. After countless flights across the country, a second Guide Dogs Centre was founded in Victoria in 1962. GDAs train people with vision impairment to use canes, canines and electronic aids to improve their mobility and thus independence and quality of life. GDAs train companion dogs for children and adults who are disabled or disadvantaged owing to age, isolation or ill health. GDAs also works with local government, architects, transport authorities and businesses on ways to improve facilities for people with vision impairment.

The School of Optometry and Vision Science has had a close association with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. In 1990 a joint UNSW/ Guide Dogs Low Vision Clinic was established at the Guide Dogs office in Milsons Point. This clinic has been actively servicing people from the northern parts of Sydney since then, providing expert magnification and optical aid provision, mobility services and referrals to other organisations when needed. In 2004 the Guide Dogs NSW/ACT moved to new premises in Chatswood. The Low Vision Clinic was expanded and its services enhanced during the move to provide even better services to people with vision impairment.

Final year students from the School of Optometry and Vision Science are actively involved in the assessments and training done at the Guide Dogs Low Vision Clinic during the University teaching year. This collaboration between UNSW and Guide Dogs NSW/ACT will ensure better low vision services in the general community in the future.


If you would like additional information on Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, you can access their web site at www.guidedogs.com.au.

In 1874 John Wood left a bequest of five thousand pounds to establish the Sydney Industrial Blind Institute as a memorial for his blind mother. Over the next 130 years this organisation changed and developed until it finally became the Royal Blind Society of NSW (RBS) in 1952. The RBS works in partnership with people who are blind or vision impaired to help expand their choices in daily life, education, employment and recreation. RBS currently provided services for about 14,000 people per year. Only about 5% of these people are totally blind.

The RBS has initiated a new community based service for people with low vision called Vision Assist. Vision Assist is a low vision service located in a number of Sydney and regional centres. As of 2004, there are twenty six locations from Tweed Heads to Wagga Wagga. The clinics are staffed with an optometrist, orthoptist and low vision case worker. The clinics can provide a full range of low vision magnifiers and advice.

The School of Optometry and Vision Science supports this initiative with one of the Vision Assist locations being in the Optometry Clinic at UNSW in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. Final year optometry students are involved in the Vision Assist clinics at UNSW, as well as at the RBS Metropolitan Office in Enfield. This collaboration between RBS and the School of Optometry and Vision Science certainly improves the quality of low vision care provided in NSW by future graduate optometrists.

If you would like additional information on the Royal Blind Society, you can access their web site at www.rbs.org.au.

Stewart House is a preventorium, so that children that attend there are normally in situations where they may be having problems at home or school from which they need a break. The children seen at Stewart House attend for a twelve day period, where different educational and recreational activities are organised. The children also get a full medical work up whilst there are there. This includes medical, dental and optometric assessments and, if necessary, treatment and/ or referral to an appropriate health care practitioner.


The School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of New South Wales, provides vision assessment for all children visiting Stewart House. The visual examination is a free service conducted by final year optometry students, under the supervision of experienced staff optometrists from the University of New South Wales. During university holidays, the staff optometrists from the School of Optometry and Vision Science provide vision care. These clinics operate on Wednesday and Thursday mornings during school term.


The visual examination includes measurement of the child's visual acuity, determination of any refractive error, assessment of how well the two eyes work together, colour vision testing and ocular health assessment. If spectacles, eye exercises or further assessment is required, a letter is sent to the parent or guardian, advising them of the visual problem and the suggested appropriate course of action.

The Staff Optometrist involved in these vision screenings at Stewart House is Ms Effey Kokkolis.

If you would like additional information on Stewart House, you can access their web site at www.stewarthouse.org.au.

For Further Information on the Stewart House Satellite Clinic:
Email: Effey Kokkolis
Telephone: (02) 9385 5288