Eye health measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2025: interactive data

The main causes of vision impairment and blindness for First Nations people, as a proportion of those with vision loss: Measure 1.2.1

Latest data

Based on the latest available Australian Eye and Ear Health Survey (AEEHS) data, in 2022–25, the 3 main causes of vision loss for First Nations people aged 50 and over were refractive error (38%), cataract (34%) and diabetic retinopathy (15%). For non-Indigenous Australians with vision loss, the main causes were refractive error (42%), cataract (29%) and age-related macular degeneration (17%) (Figure 4).   

After excluding refractive error, cataract was the most frequent cause of bilateral vision impairment, accounting for more than half of cases (51%), and is also highly remediable through cataract surgery (Figure 4).

By sex

In 2022–25, a higher proportion of First Nations females had refractive error than First Nations males (Figure 5) while a higher proportion of non-Indigenous males had refractive error than non-Indigenous females.