Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(i) the release of the University of Melbourne and Price Waterhouse Coopers report, The value of Indigenous sight: An economic analysis, and

(ii) that currently for every $1 invested in eye care the return is $0.90, however, if the recommendations in the report The Roadmap to Close the Gap for Vision are implemented it is anticipated that there will be a return of $2.50 for every additional $1 spent; therefore the elimination of unnecessary vision loss for Indigenous Australians will generate an estimated return of $1.60 for every $1 spent on eye care;

(b) acknowledges that:

(i) 94 per cent of the vision loss experienced by Indigenous Australians is preventable or treatable, and

(ii) if Australia implements the ‘roadmap’, in addition to the provision of current eye care services and programs, it will be able to restore sight or avoid future vision loss for 34 000 Indigenous Australians, closing the gap for Indigenous eye health; and

(c) urges the Federal Government to:

(i) review the report and provide national leadership on eye health, and

(ii) address the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal eye health as a matter of priority.

Question agreed to.