RANZCO 57th Annual Scientific Congress

A major bi-national ophthalmology congress returns to New Zealand

The RANZCO 57th Annual Scientific Congress runs from Friday 6 to Monday 9 November 2026 at the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) in Auckland. It is the flagship annual meeting of the ophthalmology profession across Australia and New Zealand, and the registration page confirms it is an in-person event, with session recordings made available on demand within two weeks of the Congress closing.

The scale is significant. NZICC states the Congress is expected to attract around 1,800 delegates and to contribute more than NZ$2 million in economic activity, and it is RANZCO's first New Zealand congress in over a decade. NZICC groups RANZCO with the ANZCA anaesthetists' congress as "two of Australasia's largest association conferences," together projected to bring 3,300 delegates to the venue in its opening year.

Who runs it

The Congress is produced by The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) as an educational activity. RANZCO describes itself as the bi-national college that oversees ophthalmology training and professional development across Australia and New Zealand, running vocational and specialist training programs, a mentoring program and clinical guidelines, with its Vision 2030 initiative aimed at a sustainable workforce and eliminating avoidable blindness.

According to the Congress site, the Convenors are Dr Peter Hadden and A/Prof Rachael Niederer, and the Scientific Chairs are Prof Clare Fraser and Prof Adrian Fung. The Congress is managed on RANZCO's behalf by Think Business Events in Sydney.

Who it's for and the programme

The meeting is aimed at ophthalmologists, researchers and eye-care professionals from Australia, New Zealand and internationally. Registration categories span Fellows, trainees, practice managers, and associates such as orthoptists, optometrists and general practitioners, as well as scientists, junior doctors, medical officers and medical students.

The scientific programme is built around RANZCO's named lectures, the Dame Ida Mann, Sir Norman Gregg, Fred Hollows and Council Lectures, alongside update lectures in cataract, glaucoma, neuro-ophthalmology, refractive and retina care. The Congress site lists invited speakers drawn from Australia, India, the United Kingdom, the United States and Turkey, including opening speaker Dr Michelle Dickinson and the Council Lecture by Prof Robyn Guymer AM. Supporting elements include a call for abstracts (papers, posters and films), workshops, a Practice Managers' Conference, an education hub, awards and graduation, and social events.

The venue: NZICC, Auckland

The Congress is hosted at the New Zealand International Convention Centre on Hobson Street in central Auckland, the country's largest purpose-built convention facility. As reporting context for delegate movement, NZICC sits within the Auckland CBD, placing the congress floor within walking distance of the city's main central-city hotel cluster, which matters for an 1,800-delegate medical meeting running across four days with early-morning activities and evening social functions. Auckland Airport is the gateway for the substantial trans-Tasman and international delegate contingent. The Congress site maintains dedicated travel and accommodation pages, and accompanying-partner programming includes a Maori cultural experience and an Auckland Museum tour.

Why it matters in NZ MICE

This is a tier-A international association congress and one of the anchor medical conferences for the NZICC's first year of operation. Its return to New Zealand after a roughly ten-year absence, its ~1,800-delegate projection, its multi-day in-person format and its genuinely international speaker faculty place it among the largest and most prestigious events on the Auckland business-events calendar for 2026.

Note on dates

The organiser's registration page and the NZICC event listing both give the Congress dates as 6-9 November 2026; one NZICC media release cites "5-9 November," which appears to be a minor inconsistency, so the 6-9 November window from the primary registration page is treated as authoritative. Per-session start and end times are not yet published.