Community-owned Indigenous organisation supports free student eye tests
Students of Bamaga, Injinoo, Umagico, Seisia and New Mapoon communities in North Queensland benefited from free eye testing recently thanks to support from Bamaga Enterprises Ltd and optometrists from QUT.
The children and youth of Bamaga, Injinoo, Umagico, Seisia and New Mapoon, North Queensland received free eye tests earlier this year.
Bamaga Enterprises Ltd (BEL) supported five optometrists from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to visit the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) with $10,000 in accommodation, transport and meals at Cape York Peninsula Lodge provided.
Dr Scott Read is Associate Professor at QUT’s School of Optometry and Vision Science.
‘The aim was to provide a service to the kids to do comprehensive vision testing and to understand the extent of any uncorrected vision problems that may be in the communities,’ Dr Scott said.
The optometrists conducted over 250 tests on children aged 5 to 15, using 200 kg of eye-testing equipment.
‘We are still analysing the data in terms of results, but we will provide a report back to the community with the overall prevalence results from the study,’ Dr Read said.
‘All the individual reports are done, and the results were given to the parents and carers of the children. Referrals were also provided for children with significant eye conditions needing follow-up.’
‘Any of the kids found to be needing glasses will be provided with two free pairs: one pair for home and one separate pair for school. All of the participating children were also given a free pair of sunglasses.’
Members of the QUT team recently returned to Bamaga to deliver glasses to the children who were identified as needing them as part of the vision screening project.
Chris Foord, General Manager of BEL, said the community-owned Indigenous organisation was proud to support such an important project.
‘Education is vital for our local children and being able to see as well as possible is important for a positive schooling experience,’ Mr Foord said.
Dr Read said there was a good response from the NPA region.
“There was a pretty high demand for the service once we began testing eyes, and it felt like people were quite appreciative.”
Dr Read was also pleased with how the testing was conducted and is hoping that it will be a stepping-stone to providing more consistent testing in communities such as Bamaga and the NPA.
‘We are hopeful that we could potentially return to the community at some point to conduct eye testing again. The aim is to have an ongoing and sustainable, long-term community-based program.’
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Bamaga Enterprises Ltd (BEL) is a community-owned, not-for-profit Indigenous organisation providing sponsorships, donations and community infrastructure from self-generated enterprise profits under its Socio Support Policy.
This Policy covers a range of areas such as education and training, sporting, medical, religion and women’s and men’s issues.
The Northern Peninsula Area of Cape York is near the northern tip of Queensland. As the gateway to Cape York or ‘the Tip’, NPA subsequently attracts many visitors, including tourists, and those from the government and corporate sector.