A submission concerning a school of optometry at Murdoch University in Western Australia prepared for the Optometrists Registration Board

Historical Significance: Western Australia has always felt isolated from the rest of Australia because of its separation from the populous east coast States and argued that it needed a school of optometry because of the difficulty recruiting optometrists who had trained in an eastern state. They also wanted a school because of its potential for advancing the knowledge and skills of local optometrists. However the population of WA at the time was about 1 million, and therefore needed only a relatively small number of optometrists and a small number of graduates a year. A school of optometry in WA it was argued would be too small to be able to support the staff and physical resources to meet contemporary standards of optometric education. This report puts a counter argument and details the requirements for a school of optometry. The school was not established.