BOptom (Hons) (UNSW) 1991
Margie O’Neill completed a Bachelor of Optometry at UNSW in 1991 and went on to establish Australia’s most successful Aboriginal eye care service, The North Western WA Eyecare Program, for which she received a UNSW Alumni Award in 2014. Moving to Darwin after graduating, O'Neill began conducting self-funded outreach optometry services in Arnhem Land in 1996. She grew this service over the next 17 years to deliver high quality screening and eye-care to remote Aboriginal communities across the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia with a growing team of Optometrists, Ophthalmologists and hospital staff.
O’Neill championed changes in the way state and federal governments fund rural optometry, work with Aboriginal cultural values and improved optometry and ophthalmology professional relationships. Her work to help prevent blindness and preserve vision has improved the quality of life for thousands of people living in remote communities and continues today and is supported by Lions Outback Vision.
