What is legal blindness?

Low vision, blind, and legally blind are all terms used to describe various levels of vision impairment, and they represent distinct levels of vision loss. There is often confusion around the term “legally blind” and blindness. Below is some information to help you and your loved ones understand the terminology and categories.

Low vision

Low vision refers to a vision impairment that cannot be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, medication, or surgery. People with low vision often have some usable vision, which they can utilise with the assistance of vision aids or adjustments to how they would normally do things.

Blind

Blindness refers to a complete loss of vision. A person who is blind may have little to no perception of light and cannot see images or objects.

Legally blind

Legal blindness is a term used to define a level of vision impairment that qualifies an individual for certain government benefits, assistance programs, or accommodations under the law. The specific criteria for legal blindness in Australia is a visual acuity measurement of 6/60 or worse in the better eye with any prescribed glasses or contact lenses, or a visual field (peripheral vision) restricted to a diameter of 10 degrees or less.  6/60 vision means a person can only see at 6 meters what a person with no vision impairment sees at a distance of 60 meters.