Are you exploring the possibility of opening up an optometry practice in the future? Then you might want to check out the Optometry Market Analysis (OMA) report compiled by ACIL Allen Consulting, who were engaged by the Department of Health to provide a database of optometry practices in Australia.

Proximity of competitors
The Optometry Market Analysis found that:

• Approximately one quarter of optometrists have no competitors within 500 metres, while another quarter have at least 5 competitors within 500 metres
• There is a cluster of at least 25 optometrists within 500 metres in the Sydney CBD
• 11.9% of optometrists do not have a competitor within 2km
• 77% of optometrists have at least two competitors within 2km
• 2,048 of the 2,978 practices in Australia are in capital cities

Practice to population ratios
The OMA report showed that:

• The Northern Territory has the lowest ratio of practices to people, with one practice for every 12,726 people
• Tasmania has the highest ratio of practices to people, with one practice for every 6,582 people
• On average there are 140 practices per million people in the six largest capital cities, with this being higher in Hobart (188) and lower in Darwin (100)

Practice affiliations
According to the OMA report there are 2,978 optometry practices in Australia, of which:

• 35% (1,044) are “standalone” practices which are not linked to a corporation, franchise or buying group
• 29% (870) are buying groups (e.g. Eyecare Plus, Optipro, ProVision, Eyebenefit)
• 20% (588) are franchises (e.g. The Optical Superstore, EyeQ, Specsavers, Laubman & Pank, Paris Miki) 16% (476) are part of a corporation (e.g. Big W, OPSM, BUPA, National Pharmacies)

Increasing number of optometrists
Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Health Workforce Australia tells us that the number of optometrists per 100,000 population has increased by approximately 33% in the 20 years from 1993 to 2012:

Given that 87.6% of practices undertake both consulting and dispensing, be prepared for some competition and the need to differentiate yourself in the market place!

Information sources:

• Eye health labour force in Australia (August 2009)
• Optometrist labour force (1999)
• ACIL Allen Consulting – Optometry Market Analysis (2014)
• Health Workforce Australia – Optometrists in Focus (2014)

Image: David Howard – flickr