mivision, a magazine about the optical industry in Australia, published an article about the market share of optometry practices in Australia in 2012. mivision used the ‘number of doors’ – that is, the number of practices as the basis of its article.

So to put it in terms of a pie chart, the number of practices in Australia can be divided up as follows:

Statistically, if you are employed as an optometrist, or own/become a franchisee in an optometry practice in Australia, these are the probabilities that it will be in a particular brand:

• 26% Luxottica – that is, an OPSM, Laubman and Pank or Budget Eyewear
• 18.5% Specsavers
• 18.2% unaligned independent – that is, an independent practice that is not in a group such as ProVision or Eyecare Plus
• 11.4% ProVision
• 5.6% Eyecare Plus
• 3.3% The Optical Superstore
• 4.3% Optovision
• 2.2% Big W Vision

If you add up the Luxottica, Specsavers, The Optical Superstore, Big W Vision, National Pharmacies, 1001 Optical, BUPA and ‘other corporate’, this shows a 55.8% chance of practising in a corporate/chain store setting.

So why is it that some corporate organisations have been getting a bad rap in the optometric industry?

Whispers in the industry were put in writing by mivision in an article in February 2013. Obviously in an optometry practice there is a mixture of health care (performing eye examinations) and retailing (selling goods such as glasses and contact lenses). Some optometrists in corporate settings have found that they are being asked to agree to sales targets or performance measures that can lead to breaching their legal and ethical responsibilities as a health care professional. Does this happen in EVERY corporate practice? No!!

What can an optometrist do about it?

Optometrists are encouraged to contact the Optometry Board of Australia or the Optometrists Association Australia if they feel that they have performance indicators that would lead to a breach of their responsibilities. Optometrists should also ask about the performance indicators before taking a job or becoming a franchisee in any setting, including corporate practices.