House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability
Parliament House
CANBERRA
Canberra ACT 2600
Via email: Health.Reps@aph.gov.au
13 October 2025
Dear Committee Members
Submission to the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability inquiry into the Thriving Kids initiative
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) is pleased to provide this submission to the Inquiry to highlight the importance of including eye health and vision issues in the Thriving Kids initiative.
RANZCO is the medical college responsible for the training and professional development of ophthalmologists in Australia and New Zealand. We seek to enhance equitable service provision across Australia, particularly in rural and regional areas, and develop and maintain a sustainable ophthalmology workforce with the ultimate goal of eliminating avoidable blindness.
Children with autism are at higher risk of undiagnosed vision problems, which can impact learning, social development and engagement with therapies. Vision issues (such as undiagnosed or uncorrected refractive error, strabismus or amblyopia) can mimic or worsen autism-related challenges, including reduced attention, difficulty with coordination and avoidance of eye contact.
Early identification and treatment of vision problems can significantly improve health outcomes, mental health, participation in education, the effectiveness of therapies and engagement with daily life.
One essential component of eye health care for children is vision screening. Regular vision screening can identify whether children have any problems affecting their vision, such as refractive error or amblyopia. Once identified, children can then be referred to the most appropriate health professional for treatment.
Standard vision screening services may not meet the needs of children with autism due to:
- unfamiliar and overwhelming clinical settings
- discontinuity of care and screeners lacking the skills to manage children with autism, making it difficult to establish trust between child/parents and clinicians
- difficulty coping with transitions and long waits
- the burden on families already managing multiple therapies and appointments
Providing screening in familiar environments, such as schools, can improve access and accessibility for children and deliver better outcomes. Integrating routine vision testing into autism assessment and support programs can also help ensure these issues are not overlooked.
As the Thriving Kids Initiative is developed, there is an opportunity to ensure eye health and vision issues are included where appropriate, for example, within the proposed 4-year-old health check or through education and training for health professionals and therapists treating children with autism. This would support the effectiveness of the program overall, by identifying and addressing vision issues which are either mimicking or exacerbating autism symptoms, and which can therefore reduce the effectiveness of treatments and supports.
Collaboration between eye health professionals, autism specialists, educators and families will help deliver the support needed so children with autism and developmental delays can thrive.
RANZCO would welcome the opportunity to provide input on how vision and eye health can be embedded into Thriving Kids and other government child health and wellbeing initiatives.
Should you have any questions or need further information, please contact
Jennifer Doggett, Manager, Advocacy and Campaigns, on redacted
Kind regards
redacted
Mark Carmichael RANZCO CEO
References
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Swanson, M. W., Lee, S. D., Frazier, M. G., Bade, A., & Coulter, R. A. (2020). Vision Screening among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Optometry and Vision Science. (preprint/accepted manuscript) ResearchGate