Latest news

Falls prevention is a major consideration when it comes to supporting people to remain safe and independent in their home. Living with blindness or low vision can present some extra challenges to this, so we caught up with Vision Australia Occupational Therapist Lisa Gormley for some advice on what can be done to make the home a safer environment.

Easter and Anzac Day opening hours: The Library will close on Thursday 29 March at 5.00pm and reopen on Tuesday 3 April 2018 at 9.00am. The library will also be closed for Anzac Day on Wednesday 25 April. We will endeavour to return your calls as soon as possible. 

For Vision Australia clients, Meagan Anderson or one of her fellow orthoptists are likely to be the first person from the blindness and low vision service provider they encounter. Meagan and her fellow Vision Australia Orthoptists provide clients with a broad range of services, both at the beginning of their involvement with Vision Australia and further down the track.

Specialist employment support for people who are blind or have low vision has received a big boost, with Vision Australia awarded a swathe of contracts to provide Disability Employment Services. From 1 July, Vision Australia will extend Disability Employment Services to Parramatta in NSW, Perth in WA, Robina on Queensland's Gold Coast and Dandenong and Geelong in Victoria following a successful tender to the Federal Government.

Vision Australia staff in Perth have taken part in a function designed to make the web more accessible for all. The Web Accessibility Camp featured Microsoft's David Master, who discussed "Inclusive Design: The Future of Accessibility" in his keynote speech.

Little more than a year ago, Colleen Ashby was clinging to life, with 14 machines keeping her alive following a heart transplant that robbed her of almost all of her vision. Today, she's weighing up all the opportunities that life with a new heart and low vision has presented as she trains for the Australian Transplant Games later this year.

Leading blindness and low vision service provider Vision Australia has urged Bundaberg residents living with vision loss to take every step possible to maximise government funding available to them. The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been live in Bundaberg and the surrounding areas since November 2017. The scheme provides participants with packages to fund support services and Vision Australia wants to ensure people from the blind and low vision community are receiving adequate funding.

BAIRNSDALE'S Kayci Westwood is a sports star that lets nothing stand in her way. Kayci, 26, who has low vision, has learned to travel to Melbourne on her own with support from Vision Australia, using a long white cane to help her to navigate safely. She has nystagmus, a condition that causes rapid involuntary movements in her eyes, and is triggered by the abnormal function of the part of her brain that controls eye movement.

Recently, the Victorian Government released the Victorian economic participation plan for people with disability 2018-2020. Included in the plan is the commitment to develop a Victorian public service employment action plan that will include the first ever disability employment target of 6% by 2020, increasing to 12% by 2025.

One of Vision Australia's biggest annual fundraisers just got twice as big. The Vision Australia Bendigo Easter Egg Hunt, a much loved family event held in conjunction with the Bendigo Easter Festival for the past 15 years, is normally held on Good Friday.