Vision Australia

Vision Australia is a not-for-profit organisation and Australia's largest provider of services for people with blindness and low vision.

Vision Australia was created in 2004 through the merger of 4 smaller blindness organisations: the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind (RVIB), Vision Australia Foundation (VAF), The Royal Blind Society (RBS), The National Information Library Service (NILS).

At the time Bills needed to be passed through the parliaments of Victoria and New South Wales for this to occur.

In 2006 the organisation was further expanded with the merger of the Royal Blind Foundation Queensland. This merger gave it complete reach across the eastern states of Australia.

In February 2008 it was announced that the Seeing Eye Dogs Australia (SEDA) would also merge with Vision Australia by the end of June 2008.

The inclusion of guide dog services means that one national organisation is able to provide all the services required by the blindness and low vision community.

A history of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind has been written by Judith Buckrich.

The Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind building was designed by architects Crouch and Wilson.

The Royal Victorian Institute of the Blind operated a school in Burwood from 1959 to 2009.

Ormond Hall, built in 1891, was originally established as a music hall for the blind, run by the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind.

Notable staff of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind include:

Life time governors of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind include:

Vice-presidents of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind include:

Presidents of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind include:

The following blindness and low vision services are listed on the Vision Australia website:

The history of Vision Australia’s founding organisations go back to the late 1800s and cover much of the struggle for better rights and services for Australia's blind and low vision community.

Given this long history, Vision Australia has a very extensive heritage collection including many objects and images pertaining to the story and history of the blindness community in Australia.

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