Optometrist
Optometrists test vision and eye health, then prescribe glasses, contact lenses or other treatment for what they find.
- Median salary*
- $96,200
3.8%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 5,200
2.0%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +32.9%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Low
- 2 out of 10
- Average hours
- 40/wk
matches all-jobs average
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
- You'll find optometrists in shopping-centre practices, independent clinics, hospital eye departments and Aboriginal community controlled health services, and they are usually the first point of contact for eye care.
- An examination covers vision testing and eye health, including conditions such as glaucoma and diabetic changes, with referral to an ophthalmologist when surgery or specialist care is needed.
- To practise you need an accredited optometry degree and registration with the Optometry Board of Australia, and you renew that registration each year by recording continuing professional development hours.
How much do optometrists earn?
The median full-time salary for an optometrist is $96,200 per annum, before tax, up $19,900 since 2018.
Where you work affects your income more than how long you have been registered: corporate chains commonly pay a base salary plus a bonus tied to sales of frames and lenses, independent practices may offer a share of practice profit, and public hospital eye clinics follow a set award. Find out how a bonus is calculated and whether Saturday work attracts a higher rate or is already part of the salary. A figure quoted for full-time work may include regular evening or weekend hours, so check the roster.
What does an optometrist do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Running vision and refraction tests to work out exactly what a patient needs corrected
- Examining the retina and measuring eye pressure, which can catch glaucoma or diabetic changes before a patient notices anything wrong
- Talking patients through their results and what those results mean for driving, screens, work or school
- Fitting and adjusting prescriptions for glasses and contact lenses, and advising on low-vision aids
- Writing referrals to an ophthalmologist or GP when something needs specialist attention
What skills do optometrists need?
Employers look for clinical assessment and treatment, patient care and support, health education and advice, backed by phoropter fluency and strong written communication.
Specialist skills
- Clinical assessment and treatment
- Patient care and support
- Health education and advice
- Regulatory compliance
Software and tools
- phoropter
- slit lamp
- tonometer
- autorefractor
- optical coherence tomography (OCT)
General skills
- Written communication
- Attention to detail
- Problem solving
- Stakeholder management
Is the job growing?
About 5,200 people work as optometrists in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 32.9% over the decade to 2035. That's very strong growth. Few roles in Australia are expanding this fast, and it points to solid demand for years to come.
How do you become an optometrist?
Here's the path most optometrists take, step by step.
- 1Choose the right Year 12 subjects
Most optometry courses expect English plus chemistry or maths, and some assume biology as well. Places are limited, so the subjects you take and the marks you earn both matter.
- 2Complete an accredited optometry degree
The usual path is five years, either a double degree or a three-year vision science degree followed by a two-year Master of Optometry. Every program includes supervised clinical placements where you examine patients under a registered optometrist.
- 3Register with the Optometry Board of Australia
You must be registered through AHPRA to see patients, and you will need to meet the board's English language and criminal history requirements. Registration is renewed annually.
- 4Record continuing professional development each year
Registered optometrists log a set number of CPD hours annually, some of it in formal learning activities, to keep their registration and their clinical knowledge current.
- 5Add an endorsement or a postgraduate qualification
Prescribing scheduled medicines requires a therapeutic endorsement on your registration, which takes extra study and an examination. A postgraduate qualification in contact lenses, ocular therapeutics or paediatric vision opens up specialist clinics.
Study routes we have checked
Qualifications that are a recognised way into this role, and what else you need.
- Master of Optometry
A recognised route into this role
Complete an accredited optometry program and register with the national optometry board before practising. The degree alone does not confer registration.
Ready to apply as an optometrist?
Whether you're working toward becoming an optometrist or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can an optometrist move to?
None of the roles optometrists typically move into pay more than the role itself. Orthoptist is the closest match. If a bigger salary is the goal, moving up into a senior or principal position within the role is usually the faster route than moving sideways.
Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
Orthoptist Optometrists bring eye examination and vision assessment skills to orthoptic work, needing little extra training. | −$5,200 | 63% | minimal |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as an optometrist?
The typical optometrist is 38 years old; 57% are women, 50% work full-time, and full-timers average 40 hours a week.
- 38
- Median age
- 57%
- Female share
- 50%
- Full-time
- +0h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being an optometrist?
Your day is a list of appointments in one consulting room, and each one is a short examination with someone who wants to know what is happening with their eyes, so the hours pass quickly if you enjoy the mix of careful measurement and conversation. Appointments are booked closely, which means a late patient or an unexpected test pushes everything back, and you may speak to thirty people before lunch. The commercial side carries the tension: practices earn much of their income from spectacles and lenses, and in a chain you can be working to sales targets at the same time as you are checking a patient's retina. Optometry rewards people who are methodical, patient and good at explaining things plainly, and the consulting room can feel narrow to anyone who wants a different setting or a change of scene each week.
What people like
- Patients notice the difference straight away. Someone walks out with corrected vision and often says so before they leave the room, which is a faster feedback loop than most health roles offer.
- Catching disease early. Measuring eye pressure or spotting changes on a retinal scan can find glaucoma or diabetic eye disease before a patient has symptoms, and that referral is the most medically useful thing you do in a week.
- Predictable hours. Most practice work sits inside business hours with a roster for Saturdays, and you are not on call or carrying a hospital pager as you would be in many clinical jobs.
- Knowing your patients over years. Regular customers bring their children in, and you follow a child's short-sightedness or an older patient's macular changes across visits instead of seeing them once.
What people find hard
- Sales targets alongside clinical work. Chains often tie part of your pay to sales of frames and lenses, and some optometrists find it uncomfortable to discuss a prescription and a price tag in the same appointment.
- Back-to-back appointments. A full list leaves little slack, so one patient who arrives late or needs extra imaging can put you behind for the rest of the day.
- The same tests, many times over. The standard examination follows a set sequence and healthy eyes make up most of a typical list, which some people find repetitive once they have been in practice for a while.
- Close work and sitting still. You spend the day at a slit lamp and a phoropter, leaning forward and adjusting fine settings, which shows up in the neck and shoulders.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ optometrists?
Health Care and Social Assistance employs the largest share of optometrists.
Top employing industries
- 1Health Care and Social Assistance
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 55.3% | |
|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate | 38.7% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 2.3% | |
| Year 12 or below | 1.4% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 0.5% |
Will AI replace optometrists?
Low exposure. Unlikely. AI will change some of the work around this job, not the job itself.
Automation touches a narrow band of optometry: autorefractors produce a starting measurement, retinal cameras capture images, and screening software can flag diabetic changes for a clinician to review. The examination, the diagnosis, the contact lens fitting and the conversation with the patient stay with you, as does the legal responsibility for what you prescribe. If you are training now, learn to read OCT and fundus imaging well, and build your clinical reasoning and your explanations to patients.
How a typical week splits
- Pre-testing and autorefraction15% of the week
An autorefractor and a retinal camera give a starting measurement before you meet the patient, and you refine it at the phoropter.
- Retinal imaging and screening20% of the week
Software can pick out haemorrhages and other signs of diabetic retinopathy on a fundus photo, but you decide what the finding means and where the patient goes next.
- The eye examination and diagnosis35% of the week
Slit lamp work, tonometry and OCT interpretation depend on you comparing what you see with the patient's history and symptoms.
- Contact lens fitting and patient advice30% of the week
Trial lenses, teaching a first-time wearer to handle them, and explaining what a diagnosis means for driving or screen work all happen in person.
How we work this out
We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.
Common questions about becoming an optometrist
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do optometrists earn in Australia?
Optometrists earn $96,200 per year before tax at the median for full-time work. Check whether the figure is a base salary or includes a bonus tied to spectacle and lens sales, because that difference changes your income from month to month. It is also worth confirming whether the hours are full time and whether Saturdays are rostered.
How do you become an optometrist?
You complete an accredited optometry degree, then register with AHPRA before you can examine patients. Most courses run five years and all include supervised clinical placements. Places are limited, so look up the ATAR or undergraduate results each course expects and keep chemistry and maths going at school.
Are optometrists in demand in Australia?
Optometrists are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 32.9% over the decade to 2035. An ageing population drives most of that demand, since eye examinations are funded through Medicare and older patients need checks more often. Openings also appear as practice owners retire and new practices open in growing suburbs.
Will AI replace optometrists?
Autorefractors already produce a starting prescription and screening software can grade retinal photographs for signs of diabetic retinopathy. What has not moved is the examination itself, the diagnosis, the contact lens fitting and the explanation a patient needs before they act on your advice. If you are studying now, learn the imaging systems properly and build the clinical reasoning and communication that the software cannot do.
What else can an optometrist do?
Orthoptic work in a hospital eye clinic takes $5,200 less in pay, but most of your examination and imaging skills carry over. Optical dispensers occasionally move the opposite way, though they need the full optometry degree and registration first. Some optometrists buy into an established practice or open one, and your income then becomes a share of practice profit, with staffing, leases and equipment to manage as well.
Do optometrists work weekends?
Many do, because retail practices trade six or seven days and weekend cover appears on most rosters. Public hospital eye clinics generally keep to weekdays. Ask about the weekend rotation at interview, since every Saturday is a very different arrangement from one in four.
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