The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) has lodged a submission to the Skills Insight review of the Veterinary Nursing Training Package, highlighting the critical role veterinary nurses play in delivering high-quality animal care within veterinarian-led teams.
The review presents an important opportunity to modernise veterinary nursing qualifications so they better reflect contemporary practice and the increasingly sophisticated clinical responsibilities undertaken by veterinary nurses in practice.
In its submission, the AVA emphasises that veterinary nurses are integral members of the veterinary team, supporting veterinarians in areas such as clinical nursing care, anaesthesia monitoring, diagnostics support, infection control, workplace safety and client communication. Ensuring training pathways accurately reflect these roles is essential for maintaining high standards of animal care and professional practice.
The AVA supports reforms that would strengthen the structure and clarity of veterinary nursing qualifications. This includes clearer role delineation across qualification levels.
The submission also acknowledges proposals from industry stakeholders to consider the Diploma of Veterinary Nursing as a future entry-to-practice qualification. While supportive of strengthening professional standards, the AVA stresses that any transition would need to be carefully staged to ensure training remains accessible and does not inadvertently worsen workforce shortages, particularly in regional areas.
Importantly, the AVA highlights that training reform should align with legislated scopes of practice and the AVA framework for Restricted Acts of Veterinary Science, ensuring activities involving diagnosis, prescribing, surgery or professional judgement remain the responsibility of registered veterinarians. The submission also calls for strong workplace-based training and assessment to ensure graduates are genuinely work-ready.
The importance of professional identity and public confidence was supported, noting that the title “Veterinary Nurse” should be protected and used only by appropriately qualified and registered individuals.
The AVA looks forward to continuing to work with Skills Insight, educators, regulators and industry stakeholders to ensure veterinary nursing training reform supports a highly skilled veterinary workforce and strengthens veterinarian-led teams across Australia.
The AVA’s full submission can be found here.