The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) is hosting a two day Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) Veterinary Summit in Canberra to discuss Australia’s most pressing animal biosecurity threats.
Kicking off on the 30th of November, the Summit will address how the private veterinary sector can help combat the growing range of serious biosecurity threats facing Australia. This is particularly important given the current shortage of veterinarians, particularly in rural areas.
The AVA’s special interest group Australian Cattle Veterinarians (ACV) is hosting the Summit. The ACV President Dr Tracy Sullivan said: “Bringing veterinarians from government, industry and clinical practice together is essential to make sure the profession is able to play their role in an EAD response.
“There is an exceptional line up of both government and private veterinarians including Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Schipp, several State and Territory Chief Veterinary Officers, and a wide range of experts in veterinary EAD response.”
AVA President Dr Bronwyn Orr renewed her call for the Government to wipe the HECS debts of new graduate vets to combat the workforce shortage.
“Solving the rural veterinary workforce shortage problem requires a suite of actions,” Dr Orr said
“The one we would like to see progressed now is wiping the HECS debts of veterinary graduates who live and work in rural areas.
“The Government has done this for doctors and nurses – if it’s good enough for them, it should be good enough for our veterinarians.”
