The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre will host the O-Show in 2026

The industry’s own boutique event, O-Show, is returning to Melbourne in 2026, following successful Sydney editions in 2022 and 2024.

The move to Melbourne marks a welcome return of a major trade fair to Victoria, the first since O=Mega23, said organiser Amanda Trotman, CEO of Australia’s Optical Distributors and Manufacturers Association (ODMA). “The decision now seems obvious, but it took considerable planning and reflection to ensure we did what’s right for the industry.”

The 2026 approach offers a more boutique show in a year when buying groups will be running their major biennial conference, while still delivering strong exposure and access to a broad audience, with great options for smaller and non-custom build stands, Trotman said.

The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre offers more space compared to Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion and is familiar to exhibitors and visitors alike, she said, adding the move to August from May was also made with the industry in mind. “Suppliers face increasing cost pressures, from tariffs to freight and wages. Anything we can do to support them helps them support practices which are also navigating rising operational costs.

“The new August timing also allows more new-release products to be available, particularly as some launches align with Silmo Paris (at the end of September). It also avoids the busy end-of-financial-year period and gives suppliers the option to allocate budget across two financial years, if needed,” she said.

The 2026 event will introduce the new ODMA Mastery Event, full of practical sessions to boost growth by leveraging a to-be-confirmed major industry topic. The plan is also to run a myopia mastery event, an evidence-to-implementation programme.

“Past O-Shows have always had a real buzz on the floor, with people coming together and doing business in a vibrant setting,” said ODMA board chair Craig Chick. “We’re excited to bring that same energy to Melbourne and we hope to see whole practice teams getting involved to explore new ways of growing their businesses.”

The 2026 event will run from Sunday 16 to Monday 17 August. For more, contact events@odma.com.au