Your optometry career in Australia starts here.

Checked 27 August 2026 against OCANZ and the Optometry Board of Australia. OCANZ charges per stage: Eligibility Assessment $868, Written Examination $3,534 for both papers (or $1,858 for a single paper), Cultural Safety Training $291, and the Clinical Examination in two parts — Skills $2,863 and Patient $4,722. That is $12,278 in OCANZ fees to sit every stage once. Registration then adds $737, because the Board's schedule requires both an application fee ($361) and a registration fee ($376) at initial registration — NSW registrants pay $312 instead of $376 after a rebate. All up, budget about $13,015 before English testing, travel and accommodation. Every OCANZ fee is payable per attempt with no refund for failure, so one clinical resit is a further $7,585. Confirm current amounts at ocanz.org and optometryboard.gov.au before you pay.

OCANZ does not publish pass rates, so we are not going to quote one. Figures circulating on forums and coaching sites are estimates with no published source behind them, and anchoring your preparation to a number nobody stands behind is a poor way to plan. What OCANZ does publish is the structure you are assessed against — the two written papers, the twelve-station Skills Examination and the Patient Examination — and the current appendices and Examination Guide. Prepare against those. If you want a number, ask OCANZ directly at ocanz.org.

You cannot work as an optometrist until fully registered with AHPRA. However, you may work in other healthcare roles or as an optical dispenser while preparing.

The complete process typically takes 12-18 months, including credential assessment with OCANZ, exam preparation, and AHPRA registration.