The Snellen Scale measures visual acuity and a result of 6/6 represents normal vision. For a customer to be permanently blind under the section 95 of the Social Security Act the rating on the Snellen scale must be less than 6/60 in both eyes after correction by suitable lenses.
If you are under 66 years and 6 months, and legally blind, you are eligible for the Disability Support Pension (Blind). If you are aged 66 and 6 months or older, and legally blind, you are eligible the Age Pension (Blind). Being legally blind doesn't mean you have total vision loss or 'black' blindness.
“Blind Pension” eligibility
If you are under the age of 66, and unable to work, you may qualify for the Disability Support Pension (Blind). If you are over the current retirement age of 66, you may be eligible for the Age Pension (Blind) (link opens in new window).
In order to be legally blind, you must have a visual acuity of 20/200. This means that even with glasses or contacts, you can only read the first letter at the top of the Snellen Chart, if that. You can also be legally blind if you can see, but only in a very small window in your eye.
For example, to meet the criteria for being legally blind, your vision can't be corrected to better than 20/200 in your better eye or if your visual field is 20 degrees or less in your better eye for a period that lasted or is expected to last at least 12 months.
Permanently Blind
Visual acuity on the Snellen Scale after correction by suitable lenses must be less than 6/60 in both eyes, or. Constriction to within 10 degrees of fixation in the better eye irrespective of corrected visual acuity, or.
If your prescription is -2.5 or lower, this means that you are legally blind. Visual acuity of -2.5 is equivalent to 20/200 vision. Visual acuity of -3.0, for instance, means that you have 20/250 or 20/300 vision. From there, visual acuity of -4.0 means that you have 20/400 vision.
Legal blindness means that your visual acuity is worse than 20/200 or a visual field that is less than 20 degrees even with the best possible correction. In order words, if your prescription is -2.5 or lower, this means that you are legally blind.
What is legal blindness? A person is considered legally blind if they cannot see at six metres what someone with normal vision can see at 60 metres or if their field of vision is less than 20 degrees in diameter.
Normal vision is 20/20. That means you can clearly see an object 20 feet away. If you're legally blind, your vision is 20/200 or less in your better eye or your field of vision is less than 20 degrees.
Unless you get Rent Assistance we don't use the income test if you're permanently blind and get either: Age Pension. Disability Support Pension.
You may qualify for SSDI benefits or SSI payments if you're blind. We consider you to be blind if your vision can't be corrected to better than 20/200 in your better eye.
Paying tax on your payment
You may have to pay income tax on your taxable Centrelink payments. We don't automatically deduct tax from most of our payments. But you can ask us to do this for you if you get a taxable payment. This can reduce the amount of tax you may have to pay at the end of the tax year.
You might be eligible for DES if you're: living with a mental health condition, treated illness, injury or disability that makes it difficult to find and keep a job. This includes living with anxiety or depression, a physical or intellectual disability, learning difficulties, visual or hearing impairment.
Low vision refers to a severe visual impairment in which visual acuity is 20/70 or poorer in the better-seeing eye and cannot improve with glasses or contacts. Legally blind means a person has a corrected vision of 20/200 in their best-seeing eye.
Clinically Blind vs.
While this is also a diagnosis that you can use to file for disability, a clinical diagnosis of blindness is much more severe than a legal classification of blindness. You are considered legally blind when your better eye is 20/200 or less and its visual field is 20 degrees or less.
People with very advanced macular degeneration are considered legally blind. Even so, since the rest of the retina is still working, they retain their peripheral vision (or side vision). At present, Macular Degeneration is considered an incurable eye disease though some treatments do exist.
Your visual acuity would be less than 6//60 (20/200), so would be legally blind without correction.
First: What does it mean to be "legally blind?" In most states, if you have distance visual acuity less than 20/200 that is not correctable with glasses/contact lenses, you are legally considered to be "severely visually handicapped" (which used to be called "legally blind").
-3.00 diopters or less is mild. -3.00 to -6.00 diopters is moderate. -6.00 to -9.00 diopters is severe. -9.00 diopters or more is extreme.
This is the basis for the “legal blindness definition. Legal blindness is defined as: 20/200 or worse vision in the better seeing eye, or less than 20° of a field of vision.
What prescription is considered legally blind? Legal blindness is defined as 20/200 vision. 14 The prescription equivalent is -2.5.
Normal: 20/10-20/25. Near Normal visual impairment: 20/30-20/60. Moderate visual impairment: 20/70-20/160. Severe visual impairment: 20/200-20/400, or 11-20 degrees on the visual field.