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How to become an orthoptist

Official title: Orthoptist

Orthoptists diagnose and treat eye problems such as double vision and squint. They also help people with neurological conditions that affect vision.

Main tasks

How to become one

You need a qualification to become an orthoptist and experience may be useful. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a Bachelor of Orthoptics (Honours) from La Trobe University, Melbourne; to pass a police check. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification recognised by the University of Technology Sydney in vision science, health science, biological science or similar; a Master of Orthoptics from the University of Technology Sydney; experience in similar work; to join a professional organisation.

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Questions people ask

How do I become an orthoptist?

You need a qualification to become an orthoptist and experience may be useful. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a Bachelor of Orthoptics (Honours) from La Trobe University, Melbourne; to pass a police check. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification recognised by the University of Technology Sydney in vision science, health science, biological science or similar; a Master of Orthoptics from the University of Technology Sydney; experience in similar work; to join a professional organisation.

How much does an orthoptist earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $95,789 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $82,500 to $102,000 a year.

Will AI change the work of an orthoptist?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026