Conference Theme

The theme for this year's conference is Our Vision in Our Hands representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and ownership of eye health.

Background: The conference theme for 2022 has been set by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Conference Leadership Group overseeing NATSIEHC22 and invites consideration of how best to approach efforts to close the gap for vision and end avoidable vision loss and blindness. It calls for greater leadership and ownership of eye health by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people along with the shift in power that is necessary to produce the outcomes that we are all working towards.

The activities delivered as part of this theme will support the sector to purposely move towards assuming the roles that are required to advance eye health outcomes for Australia’s First Peoples.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates the conference will aim to empower, inform and inspire, enabling First Nations peoples to play a key role in leading the eye health initiatives designed to improve eye health outcomes in their communities. For non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates, the conference will aim to deliver knowledge, guidance and some practical skills to help shape their future contribution to ending avoidable blindness. This will include seeding some early ideas on how they, their colleagues and their non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations may wish to begin adjusting their approaches to supporting eye care. The goal is to permeate the thinking across all levels of the sector from the national policy landscape to funding bodies, service providers and the communities themselves.