New ACBO president Evan Brown (left) congratulating former president, now CEO, Stephen Leslie on his ACBO Emeritus Fellowship award at the 2019 NACBO conference. Credit: Adrian Bell

First NZ ACBO president

The Australasian College of Behavioral Optometrists (ACBO) has appointed its first New Zealand president, Auckland-based optometrist Evan Brown. Formerly vice-president, Brown was appointed to the role at this year’s national ACBO conference in Melbourne in July.

Founded in 1987, the ACBO provides education and training in behavioural optometry. Members have a special interest in children's vision, patients with learning difficulties, traumatic brain injury, binocular vision dysfunction and visual skills for sport.

A certified behavioural optometrist, Brown has specific interest in visual dysfunctions relating to learning, paediatric optometry and neuro-rehabilitative optometry. He has been a joint director of the Special Olympics Lions Club Opening Eyes Programme, which provides eye examinations and glasses for children and adults with intellectual disabilities attending Special Olympics events. He is currently co-lecturer for the ACBO Practical Vision Therapy Programme and an honorary teaching fellow in the School of Optometry and Vision Science at Auckland University. His role as ACBO president includes overseeing ACBO’s educational programmes, delivered online and at conferences in New Zealand and Australia, as well as Canada, the Philippines and India; board meeting administration; and liaising with other professional bodies and regulatory authorities involved in eyecare and healthcare.

The position of ACBO president is elected every two years and has a maximum tenure of two terms.

This year’s NACBO conference will be covered in October’s NZ Optics.