Changes to the Animal Care and Protection Act now require lay spayers (other than veterinarians) to be accredited in order to provide professional services to the industry. Spayers must now be accredited to perform the Willis Dropped Ovary Procedure.
AgForce applied to the Queensland Government to manage the Cattle Spayers Accreditation Scheme. With support from DAF and AUSMEAT, the online accreditation scheme offers cattle spayers the opportunity to seek required accreditation through a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) training package (AHCLSK338 – Conduct dropped ovary technique procedures for spaying cattle).
This is available at https://www.spaying.com.au/.
Process for current spayers to become accredited:
- Apply and pay all fees via the scheme website “layspayer.com.au“
- If required, apply to the RTO for recognition of prior learning
- If suitable receive provisional acceptance and commence the full RPL process
- In time, complete the RPL process
- RTO notifies the website and a full and complete accreditation is issued to the spayer
The initial accreditation fee, $250, offers a provisional licence for current non-accredited operators to continue operating while completing the RPL requirement. The RPL accreditation package (a one-off fee) costs $2350 + $150 (nonrefundable admin fee) excluding GST with AgForce members entitled to a $200 discount.
Accredited spayers (other than vets) are then required to pay an annual accreditation fee to support this scheme. The annual accreditation fee is $250 excluding GST.
