Our People
The ACO has a large staff of professional and extremely competent personnel, made up of optometrists from graduate to senior levels, as well as non-optometrists in support and management roles.
Listed below are details of our management team:
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Chief Executive Officer – Professor Sarah Hosking Professor Sarah Hosking came to the ACO in March 2010 as Director of the National Vision Research Institute. Professor Hosking previously worked at the Centre for Eye Research Australia and is Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne. Having trained in the UK as an Optometrist at City University London and Moorfields Eye Hospital, she completed her PhD at the Department of Ophthalmology at Manchester University, following which she commenced her academic career at Aston University in Birmingham in 1996. During that period Sarah had numerous roles including Clinical Director and Postgraduate Director, founder and Managing Director of the Aston Academy of Life Sciences, (a $20m research hospital on the University's campus) and concurrently held a non executive board directorship in a $1.5bn per year NHS Trust. Until 2009, Sarah was Professor of Optometry at both Aston University Birmingham and City University London. In addition to her ongoing role as Professor in the department of Ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne, she currently holds honorary professorships in optometry at City University London and in ophthalmology at Shanxi University China. She became a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 2009. Professor Hosking is a thought leader for the Creative Innovation conference 2010-2011 and actively supports Save the Children Australia where she is Chairman of the Victorian State Council. |
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Director Clinic Operations – Neville Turner Neville Turner graduated as an optometrist from the University of Melbourne in 1990 and begun work at the (then) Victorian College of Optometry as a Staff Optometrist. Over the years he has worked in many different areas of the organisation including managing a metropolitan clinic, involvement with low vision service provision, lecturing and clinical teaching. Whilst working at the ACO Neville has completed further post graduate studies including a Certificate for the Rehabilitation of the Partially Sighted, a Post Graduate Diploma of Advanced Clinical Optometry and a Graduate Certificate of Ocular Therapeutics. Over the past 10 years Neville has undertaken various management roles in the College with responsibilities for IT, reception, business, and dispensary services. Neville was appointed General Manager Clinic Operations in 2007, then with an organisational restructure, Senior Manager Clinic Operations in 2009. Currently Neville is Director Clinic Operations. |
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Director Specialty & Community Services – Timothy Fricke
Tim Fricke was appointed as Director Specialty & Community Services in the Clinical Services Division of the ACO in January 2011. Tim is an Academic Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and the African Vision Research Institute, as well as an honorary fellow at the University of KwaZuluNatal. He has training in optometry (including therapeutics), research and international development. He has held clinical care, teaching, research and management roles in private, public, community health, hospital and refugee camp settings in Australia, PNG and Tanzania. He has previously been Asia Pacific Research Manager at the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) and Head of Paediatric Services at the Australian College of Optometry. He has extensive paediatric clinical experience, supervised postgraduate research in paediatric optometry and health economics, taught undergraduate and postgraduate eyecare courses, researched vision development, epidemiology, quality of life and access to eye care, and provided Continuing Professional Development for optometrists and other professionals. He has assisted local people to develop systems and skills for providing their own primary eyecare in Tanzania, Burundi, Vietnam and Timor Leste. |
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General Manager Finance & Corporate Services - Clare Escott Clare Escott was appointed as General Manager Finance & Corporate Services, and Company Secretary, in December 2010. Clare is a qualified Chartered Accountant who has a wide range of experience, having worked in both private practice and the public sector over the last 20 years. Most recently Clare held the position of Director of Corporate Services for North Down Borough Council, a local authority in Northern Ireland. In this role, she headed up a team of over 50 staff and was responsible for leading the delivery of Finance, Human Resources, ICT, Procurement and Member Support activities across all Council Departments. As General Manager, Finance & Corporate Services, Clare leads a team of staff in delivering and developing corporate support services, including Finance, IT, Property Services and Administration. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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General Manager Professional Development - Mary Wilson
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Senior Manager Teaching and Quality – Jane Trevaskis Jane Trevaskis joined the ACO in 2009, and her role is within the Clinical Services Division. Jane has over 15 years of experience in education and training working across a variety of professions and industries. Her most recent role has been as the CPD and Training Manager at the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch, where she was responsible for an extensive CPD and training program for dentists and their staff. She has held similar roles with other membership based associations. Jane worked as a research officer for an industry training board, and was responsible for advising government of the training needs to the arts and sports industries. Her qualifications include a Bachelor of Education, a Graduate Diploma in Management and most recently a Certificate 4 in Workplace Training and Assessment. Her role at the ACO involves managing the clinical teaching activities of the College with a particular emphasis on strengthening ties with the optometry schools, both locally and abroad, and supporting the clinical education team. Jane is also responsible for coordinating the OCANZ examinations. Jane's role encompasses further developing the Clinic's capacity to provide and support educational activities at both an undergraduate and postgraduate level and developing a quality program to assure best practice within the Clinic. |
Lead Optometrists
Lead Optometrist Clinical Teaching - Nelofar Deen
Lead Optometrist Contact Lens – Adrian Bruce
Lead Optometrist Low Vision – Mae Chong
Lead Optometrist Ocular Diseases – Genevieve Napper
Lead Optometrist Outreach Services – Piers Carrozzi
Lead Optometrist Paediatric – Peter Nixon
Lead Optometrist Primary Care – Jennifer Caulfield & Roman Serebrianik
Lead Optometrist Visual Function Services - Anne Weymouth









