A warm welcome to all our new and returning AVAWE members!
To our new members, on behalf of the committee, we are delighted to welcome you to AVAWE. Following the recent restructure of the AVA membership model, our membership has grown more than tenfold. It is great to see so many new members joining our community, in addition to our valued returning members.
AVAWE brings together veterinarians from clinical practice, academia, research, government, policy and advocacy who share a commitment to animal welfare and ethics. As a Special Interest Group within the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA), our role is to strengthen the profession’s capacity to address animal welfare and ethical challenges through education, collaboration, policy development and advocacy. We contribute our animal welfare and ethics expertise to AVA submissions, consultations and policy initiatives, while providing members with opportunities for CPD, webinars, shared resources and discussion of real-world ethical issues.
Reflecting on the past year!
Our AGM was held on 6 August 2026, providing an opportunity to reflect on another very busy year. AVAWE members contributed to approximately 23 submissions and consultations, policy reviews, advocacy activities and stakeholder engagements across a wide range of animal welfare issues. This has been a remarkable, collective effort, and I am grateful for the continued efforts of the AVAWE committee and our members who have gotten involved over the past year in various capacities.
We have also continued to develop our educational activities, including the successful Dingoes, Ethics and Coexistence in Modern Australia webinar with Dr Bradley Smith on 29 July and are looking forward to our last webinar of the year, Greyhound welfare and rehoming following the closure of the New Zealand greyhound industry with Dr Gavin Goble on 9 December.
We also farewelled Di Evans, Teresa Collins and Susan Hazel from their formal committee roles and sincerely thank them for their valuable contributions. We also acknowledge Ellen Simpson for her significant contribution to the committee over many years. My thanks go to our returning committee members and to Louisa Farthing and Maddison Krstevski from the AVA team for their ongoing support.
Get involved!
With our membership growing so rapidly, there is an exciting opportunity to broaden our impact and bring more voices into our work. We are currently recruiting new committee members and encourage both veterinarians with years of experience in animal welfare and ethics, and those who simply have a passion for this area and want to find new ways to contribute, to get involved. You do not need to be an established expert or have previous committee experience. Fresh perspectives, diverse experience and a willingness to contribute are all valued.
There are plenty of other ways to get involved. Follow AVAWE on the AVA Member hub, keep an eye out for upcoming webinars and CPD opportunities, share your interests and expertise with the committee, or consider contributing to an AVA policy working group. If you are interested in supporting our policy, advocacy or education activities, please reach out – we would love to hear from you.
Thank you again to all our new and returning members for being part of AVAWE. With such a significant increase in membership, I look forward to working together to build on this momentum and continue making a meaningful contribution to animal welfare and ethical veterinary practice.
Dr Jessica Hoopes
President, AVA Welfare and Ethics Special Interest Group (AVAWE)
