Indigenous Eye Health
A Place for Mob in Optometry Project
A Place for Mob in Optometry Project
A Place for Mob in Optometry is a strengths-based, community-led initiative that has been running since 2023. This project is designed to improve the wellbeing and success of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander optometry students across Australia. The project creates a culturally safe, relational space where students can connect with mob across year levels and universities, access mentoring, build community, and navigate the challenges of studying in higher education.
What we do
- Learn about pathways, opportunities and support available throughout your optometry journey
- Share experiences
- Connect with Mob across Australia
- Be part of a culturally safe and supportive community
- Tailored support and pastoral care
- Funding to attend IAHA & NATSIEH Conferences
Who is involved
Alisha Uswatte
Project Support Officer
A Place for Mob in Optometry
0437 168 180
alisha.uswatte@outlook.com
I’m Alisha, a proud Ngarrindjeri woman from the Murraylands region of South Australia, and I now live and work on Kaurna Yarta.
With a background in health and education, I worked as a secondary school teacher for four years before moving into Higher Education, where I have worked in since 2018. Alongside this role, I also work part-time as a Project Support Officer for A Place for Mob in Optometry project, which has given me the opportunity to contribute to work that is meaningful to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Optometry students across Australia.
Being Aboriginal and having a strong connection to culture, community and identity is a big part of who I am and shapes the way I approach my work.
I’ve always been passionate about building strong, meaningful relationships and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander University students to feel culturally safe, connected, confident and empowered in their education. I’m committed to advocating for the needs of students, celebrating their success and strengths, and feel privileged to be a part of their journey!
Sara Carrison a proud Ngarrindjeri and Boandik woman who was born and raised on Barngarla Country in South Australia. She moved to Kaurna Yarta to study optometry, where she continues to live and work now, with her partner and two dogs. Sara has had the privilege of working as an optometrist across a range of settings, meeting many incredible people along the way. She now works at Flinders University as a lecturer and optometrist, while doing her PhD that explores the best ways to support wellbeing and success while studying optometry.
Shaun Tatipata is a descendant of the Narrindjeri / Wuthathi people with family connections in the Torres Strait, Cape York and South Australia. He joined the Indigenous Eye Health Unit in January 2021 in the role of Academic Specialist: Indigenous Eye Health Leadership. Shaun’s professional career has been devoted to advancing the health and well-being of Indigenous Australians and has held Senior Management positions within the Community Controlled and Non-Government Sectors. Having originally trained as an Aboriginal Health Worker, Shaun gained extensive experience in delivering Primary Health Care and designing and implementing outreach programs in Indigenous communities. It was through these roles that Shaun developed his passion for preserving and restoring sight, and set out to focus on ensuring the delivery of culturally safe eye care services for Indigenous communities.
(read more here)
A/Prof Mitchell Anjou is an optometrist and public health practitioner whose motivating professional interest is the provision of eye care for people who have difficulty realising care. Mitchell is a Senior Research Fellow, Academic Specialist in the Indigenous Eye Health group. After completing his optometry and research masters degrees, he worked for the Australian/Victorian College of Optometry for over twenty years as Clinic Director and Senior Fellow in the Optometry Department of the University of Melbourne.
Mitchell served for over 10 years on the Optometrist Registration Board of Victoria and is now an appointed member of the Registration and Notifications Committee of the Optometry Board of Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Optometry, founding member of the Public Health Optometry Group, Director of the Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand and was honoured in 2013 as a Member in the Order of Australia award for significant service to optometry and public health. (read more here)
Testimony
The original ‘A Place for Mob and a Place for Me in Optometry’ team reached out to me through Kylie Clarke back in December 2023 to participate in the project. I had completed my first semester of Doctor of Optometry at UWA earlier in the year and had then been forced to defer due to personal circumstances for which there was not enough support to help me navigate at the time. The project presented me the opportunity to put voice to what I felt were gaps in the system for mob, especially within the UWA Optometry course, and perhaps help guide better support systems and more robust university programs that help get mob into and through optometry courses in general.
More than just having my voice and story heard though, I was able to connect with a very supportive network of strong and capable Indigenous optometrists and optometry students, and also allies in the optometry space. This amazing group of people helped guide me, support me, and build me up to believe I was capable of whatever I set my mind to. Being able to attend the NATSIEHC conference every year and reconnect with those whose energy and passion filled my own cup will always be the thing I treasured most about my time within the eye health space. Had it not been for the Place for Mob project I would not have been at those conferences, would not have attempted to return to UWA Optometry, and would not have had the opportunity to spend the most amazing 12 months in Darwin at the Deadly Vision Centre. I simply would have walked away after that first semester back in 2023.
There are still large gaps in the support on offer within the university optometry courses for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, but there have also been improvements that may not have happened without the voices of mob being heard through the Place for Mob project. I am proud to have been a part of the Place for Mob project and will continue to offer all the support and time any of our current Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander optometry students may need along their own journey through optometry – Kat
Photo credit: Courtney Jane Media (NT)
2024 Workshop
Through Fred Hollows Foundation funding, OCANZ supported participants coming together to attend a workshop hosted by Shaun Tatipata and the project team from A Place for Mob, A Place for me in Optometry on Larrakia Country on Friday 13 December 2024. Fourteen participants, including representatives from A Place for Mob, A Place for Me in Optometry – project team (4) and students (4), members of the First Nations Optometry Network (4), representatives from OCANZ (1) and Optometry Australia (1) participated in the workshop that was held at the Deadly Vision Centre and facilitated by Conor Bowden (PIC Intern). A Welcome to Country was performed by Aunty Bilawara Lee, Larrakia Elder.
