The AVA has lodged a comprehensive submission to the NSW Government’s review of the Veterinary Practice Regulatory Framework, advocating for reforms that strengthen animal welfare, support veterinary teams, and future-proof the profession for decades to come.
The review presents a significant opportunity to modernise veterinary regulation in New South Wales and better align it with contemporary practice, emerging technologies, and workforce needs. The AVA’s submission is built on key principles that place animal welfare, public confidence, professional standards, and workforce sustainability at the heart of reform.
While broadly supportive of the proposed reforms, the AVA has highlighted essential outcomes that must underpin any new framework, these include:
- Strong protections for animal welfare and public safety
- A sustainable and well-utilised veterinary workforce
- Risk-based, proportionate regulation
- Fair and reasonable regulatory costs that do not place additional pressure on veterinarians and veterinary businesses.
The submission also emphasises the importance of ongoing collaboration between the Veterinary Board and the profession, particularly through engagement with the AVA on developing standards, guidelines and implementation resources.
The AVA supports the licensing of mobile and telehealth veterinary services to improve access to care, particularly for rural, regional and underserved communities. However, has stressed that innovation must not come at the expense of professional standards, accountability or animal welfare.
The submission calls for telehealth services to operate within a framework that includes strong, well defined, contemporary, veterinarian-client-patient relationships (VCPR) and clear clinical standards.
The AVA also reinforced a core principle: diagnosis, prescribing and clinical decision-making must remain the responsibility of registered veterinarians, with only carefully controlled and risk-based delegation of selected tasks.
A major focus of the submission is the proposed registration of veterinary nurses and technologists. The AVA strongly supports formal registration, recognising it as an important step in strengthening animal welfare, improving consumer confidence, and creating clearer career pathways for veterinary nurses. The submission recommends that registration be supported by clearly defined qualifications, scopes of practice, supervision requirements and continuing professional development obligations. Importantly, the AVA has called for practical transitional arrangements, including recognition of prior experience and learning pathways, to ensure experienced members of the current workforce are not disadvantaged.
The veterinary profession continues to face significant wellbeing challenges, and the AVA has advocated strongly for a regulatory framework that actively supports practitioner mental health. The submission endorses a modern, risk-based complaints process that prioritises serious risks to animal welfare and public safety while encouraging education, resolution and quality improvement for lower-risk matters.
The AVA supports the proposed licensing of all types of veterinary premises and modernising Veterinary Board functions but has been clear that expanded regulatory responsibilities should not be funded through disproportionately increased registration fees for veterinarians. Instead, the submission calls for government investment and alternative funding mechanisms that recognise the significant public benefits delivered by the veterinary sector, including animal welfare, biosecurity, food security and consumer protection.
To support workforce mobility and reduce administrative burden, the AVA has advocated for greater national alignment of veterinary registration categories and recognition of the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council’s role in maintaining educational and professional standards across Australia. Support is also given for extending codes of conduct to all registered professionals and licensed veterinary premises, ensuring consistent standards and accountability across the veterinary sector.
This submission reflects extensive consultation with the profession and demonstrates the AVA’s ongoing commitment to advocating for regulatory settings that protect animal welfare, strengthen the veterinary workforce and support high-quality veterinary services across Australia.
As the reforms progress, the AVA will continue engaging closely with government, regulators and stakeholders to ensure the final framework delivers practical, balanced reforms that benefit animal welfare, veterinarians, veterinary nurses, animal owners and the broader community.
Read the full AVA submission here.