Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has officially opened the stunning new photo exhibition—Fred Hollows: A Global Vision—at Parliament House in Brisbane.

The rare collection of images captures the extraordinary life and legacy of the late Australian eye surgeon, Professor Fred Hollows (1929-93).

Premier Newman said Fred Hollows was a great Australian who used his skills and passion for helping others to improve the lives of sight-impaired people around the world.

“Fred Hollows understood that good eyesight is crucial to living a productive and healthier life. By treating avoidable blindness in outback Australian communities and developing countries around the world, Fred and his Foundation have improved the lives of millions of people,” Mr Newman said.

“This exhibition is a tribute to Fred’s work and will help raise awareness of the work of The Foundation. I encourage everyone to come and learn a little more about the great legacy of Fred Hollows.”

Brian Doolan, CEO of The Fred Hollows Foundation, welcomed the Premier’s support.

“Queenslanders are some of our biggest donors so it’s great that we can bring this exhibition to Brisbane to thank them for their ongoing support,” he said.

“We have been lucky to work with some incredibly talented photographers over the past 20 years who have captured the stories of just some of the people who have received the gift of sight through The Foundation.”

Fred Hollows: A Global Vision draws on Fred’s early work in outback Australia, where he led a groundbreaking campaign to treat eye disease in remote Aboriginal communities. It also highlights Fred’s instrumental role in introducing affordable eye care and modern cataract surgery techniques in Eritrea, Nepal and Vietnam.

The Fred Hollows Foundation now works in more than 20 countries. In the past five years alone, nearly one million sight restoring operations and eye treatments have been carried out—approximately one every 2.6 minutes.

Over the past 20 years, more than 220,000 Australians and 10,000 organisations have put their hands in their pockets to support the work that Fred began.


Exhibition details:


When: The free exhibition will be on display 9-5pm at QLD Parliament House until Friday 31 August.

Where: Queensland Parliament House, Cnr of George and Alice Streets, Brisbane, Brisbane CBD