The Australian College of Optometry is located in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It was founded in 1939 to train optometrists. Optometry

Optometry

Optometry is a health care profession concerned with eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems, and vision information processing in humans. Optometrists, or Doctors of Optometry, are state licensed medical professionals trained to prescribe and fit lenses to improve vision,...

 training is now undertaken in tertiary institutions, however, the College continues to work closely with the University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

, and other Universities, in optometric education. The Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences of the University of Melbourne is located within the Carlton

Carlton, Victoria

Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...

premises of the College.

Mission

The mission of the Australian College of Optometry is to promote the visual health and well-being of the communities it serves by leading the profession to build its knowledge base, attain and advance clinical skills and deliver the best possible optometric care. The College achieves this mission by:

Name change

In 2008 the governing Council of the Australian College of Optometry endorsed a new strategic direction for 2009 to 2011 that enables the organisation to reposition itself to meet future challenges and guide the ACO’s operations as it develops and grows. As the first step in this process, the College changed its name from Victorian College of Optometry to Australian College of Optometry on 1 October 2009.

External links

• The College website