We were asked to create a way to get consumers to prioritise their family’s eye health. Through research we found that 1 in 4 children have a vision issue, and that many of these issues go unidentified, causing development and learning issues in a large volume of children across Australia.

We looked to engage families through the gatekeeper of family health, mums. We wanted to offer mums a tool in which they could screen the eyes of their own child. We developed a series of children’s vision screenings with the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Melbourne. We learned that, in order to create accurate and consistent results, parents require a set of screening tools.

To ensure the screenings (and their required tools) are adopted by parents and kids, we approached author/illustrator Kevin Waldron to create a story that could easily hide the screening requirements while keeping kids happy and engaged.

We created a first of its kind, a story book which is also a medical tool to help mum's screen their children's vision.

We developed a series of children’s vision screenings with the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Melbourne. We learned that, in order to create accurate and consistent results, parents require a set of screening tools.

To ensure the screenings (and their required tools) are adopted by parents and kids, we approached author/illustrator Kevin Waldron to create a story that could easily hide the screening requirements while keeping kids happy and engaged.

This year alone, Penny the Pirate will be used to engage with over 200,000 Australian families. It will be responsible for the identification of more than 25,000 children with a previously undiagnosed vision issue.

Initial response from parents has been overwhelmingly positive and it has been agreed that this will be a permanent property for OPSM.