The Australian Corneal Graft Registry

Replacement of diseased or damaged corneal tissue, with that from a deceased donor, can restore sight and greatly improve quality of life for many individuals.

The Australian Corneal Graft Registry (ACGR) was established in 1985, to provide high quality, longitudinal, data analyses of the outcomes of corneal transplantation in Australia. Results from the ACGR are provided to surgeons and Eye Banks, so that they can use the information to improve their practices, and the related outcomes for their patients.

Our research

The goals of the ACGR are to:

Measure corneal graft survival and visual outcomes,
Examine risk factors for corneal graft failure,
Monitor changing patterns of practice, and
Disseminate the information back to ophthalmologists for the eventual benefit of their patients.

We do this through a combination of major reports, presentations, individualised feedback to contributors, and publications in the international literature.

We engage in ongoing dialogue with surgeons and Eye Banks, as well as corneal graft recipients and the wider health consumer community. This enables us to ensure that the data we collect are both relevant to current international ophthalmic practices and reflective of practitioner and patient information needs in real-world clinical settings.

Research projects

Maintaining and growing a national database of over 50,000 corneal transplants, registered since 1985.
Producing amalgamated, de-identified reports in a form that can be used by an ophthalmologist to counsel patients.
Providing benchmarked individualised audits of an ophthalmologist’s outcomes for use in their continued professional development.
Producing individual audits to Australian Eye Banks to assist in their mandatory reporting and quality assurance assessments.
Engaging with community members to develop and facilitate knowledge sharing of easy-to-understand resources relating to corneal transplantation.

Recent publications

Keane M.C., Jones V.J., Lawson C.M., Chen J.Y., & Williams K.A. 2025. The Australian Corneal Graft Registry 2025 Report. DOI: 10.25957/vfa8-8r43.
Keane M.C., Galettis R.A., Mills R.A., Coster D.J., & Williams K.A., for Contributors to the Australian Corneal Graft Registry, 2016. A comparison of endothelial and penetrating keratoplasty outcomes following failed penetrating keratoplasty: a registry study. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 100(11), 1569-75.
Williams K.A., & Keane M.C., 2022. Outcomes of corneal transplantation in Australia, in an era of lamellar keratoplasty. Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology. 50(4), 374-85.
Keane M.C., Mills R.A., Coster D.J., Williams K.A., for Contributors to the Australian Corneal Graft Registry, 2017. Is there evidence for a surgeon learning curve for endothelial keratoplasty in Australia? Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology. 45(6), 575-83.
Eley S., Wyman C., Turner C., Caughey G., Williams K., Keane M., Deakin A., Lorimer M., Harrison S., Eshetie T.C., Radoslovich H., McDonald S., & Inacio M. 2025. Enhancing Registry Impact: Translating Registry Outputs into Consumer-Friendly Information (CoFI project) Through Consumer Co-design. Health Information Management Journal. In press. DOI: 10.1177/18333583251350437

Resources

Australian Corneal Graft Registry 2025 Report

ACGR Information Sheet

Australian Corneal Graft Registry 2025 Annual Report

Australian Corneal Graft Registry 2025 Interim Report

Keratoconus in the ACGR

Australian Corneal Graft Registry 2024 Annual Report

Australian Corneal Graft Registry 2023 Annual Report

Australian Corneal Graft Registry 2022 Annual Report

Australian Corneal Graft Registry: 35 Years in Sight

Funders and partners

Funding for the operations of the Registry is provided by the Australian Organ and Tissue Authority (DonateLife).

The ACGR is a member of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) Registry Centre.

We acknowledge the assistance of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare in keeping our records up to date via data linkage with the National Death Index.