Advocacy update - August/September 2022

07 Oct 2022

 

Hello colleagues, 

It’s been a busy couple of months for the AVA in a number of different areas. 

Key advocacy and public affairs updates for August/September 2022 

All national committees and formal national working groups with terms of reference that relate to advocacy have met during the months of August and September, including the Advocacy Advisory Committee, the Advocacy Forum, the AVA Emergency Animal Diseases working group and the Workforce sustainability group.  

Since the last update, the AVA has made ten submissions on a variety of issues. We continue to encourage you to get involved to provide input into activities that the AVA is commenting on or undertaking. Please consider “getting involved” in the following national issues that are currently open: 

 

National Advocacy Issues 

 

Value of the Profession 

Emergency Animal Diseases - the AVA continues to provide representation on the numerous industry and government working groups and task forces that are in operation for these diseases. Through the Emergency Animal Diseases page, we are keeping AVA members informed of our advocacy in this space. Our president, Dr Bronwyn Orr, provided an excellent update that can be found here. The AVA also put in a submission on the adequacy of Australia’s biosecurity measures and response preparedness. We will continue to provide up-to-date information as it comes to hand.  

Updated information can be found here:

A reminder that online training is currently available for veterinary teams, including:  

 

TGA decision on scheduling of lidocaine and transmucosal meloxicam – the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) announced the scheduling decisions on lidocaine and transmucosal meloxicam in August. The interim decisions mean that:  

  • A specific oral transmucosal MELOXICAM is S6. If the interim decision is upheld this specific formulation is no longer prescription only, effective 1st February 2023.  
  • The existing S5 entry for lidocaine when packaged in a container with a tamper resistant cartridge which can only be dispensed through a rubber ring applicator will remain if the interim decision is upheld. 

This was very disappointing news, given that for both drugs the majority of the public submissions opposed these drugs being scheduled anything other than S4. Unfortunately, despite all of the hard work by the working group and AVA team, our message was not heeded.  We asked you to 'get involved' and make a submission to provide evidence as to why the decision is not in the public interest and risks animal health and welfare. Through collaboration with the working group, the AVA also made a submission which can be read here. 

We would like to thank all members who have contributed to this process through either participation on the working group or by putting in a submission. 

Workforce sustainability and wellbeing 

Veterinary Education - the last couple of months has seen a lot of activity in the veterinary education space, with several reviews requesting engagement with the veterinary profession. The AVA has actively engaged in these processes. 

  • AVBC accreditation standards review – phase 2 consultation – read the AVA submission here. 
  • AVBC day one competencies – phase 2 – read the AVA submission here. 

Stage one of the value of veterinary practice - investigation of the economic contribution of the veterinary profession to the community has recently been completed. We will be releasing the key take home messages very soon. This work provides a foundation on which to advocate for mechanisms to future-proof the profession. Given the current environment around emergency animal diseases it has been recommended to leverage the opportunity to progress rural/regional-focussed community activities. A suite of initiatives are required to address rural veterinary service delivery. Two that currently have some interest are: 

  • HECs fee forgiveness for recent veterinary graduates. The AVA made a submission to the October budget to request funding for this initiative. This project has support from the National Farmers Federation, and they have included it in their list of requests. 
  • A mechanism to compensate rural and regional vets for delivering public good in the production animal sector, known colloquially as the 'vets on farms' project. There are numerous public benefits to greater veterinary involvement, for example biosecurity, animal health and welfare outcomes. The mechanism to do this should not be only borne by the individual farmer and veterinarian, but by the greater community (industry/government). While there appears to be broad support within the AVA for the concept, there is a lack of organisational clarity as to what specific outcomes should be, and the mechanism needed to achieve the outcomes. The next steps involve progressing the discussion within the AVA to reach agreement so the concept can be developed further. 

 

Policy Advisory Council (PAC) Update 

The AVA’s Policy Advisory Council has a large number of working groups working on updating and formulating new policies. Once a decision point has been reached, we will be looking for member comment – watch this space.  

 

Key advocacy activities (Divisions)

Victoria

  • VIC Division President August Update - I’m sure most presidents’ messages begin by saying how busy the Division has been, and well, I’m going to say that again. There has been a lot that the Association has been addressing, from animal health, animal welfare and issues directly affecting the profession itself. The much-publicised spread of FMD to Indonesia has brought a number of aspects of emergency animal disease (EAD) preparedness and surveillance into the spotlight. The Victorian Division has been involved in a range of related activities associated with the spread to our regional neighbourhood of FMD, Lumpy Skin Disease and African Swine Fever. 
  • State Election - with the Victorian State Election coming up in November, the AVA is preparing an Election Platform outlining the key things that we want to see the next government address. Please let us know your thoughts on key issues. 
  • Working with Wildlife - a series of webinars are being offered by Together For Wildlife, an initiative across the Wildlife sector including the AVA. The webinars will deliver information as well as provide an opportunity to ask questions, and are designed to support the wildlife rehabilitation sector including carers, shelters and vets.

Get involved:

  • Have your say on Victoria’s Biosecurity laws - the AVA will be making a submission with feedback on combining the laws relating to animals, plants and pests currently provided across multiple pieces of legislation into a single Biosecurity Act. 
  • Submission into Victoria's new animal care and protection laws - the Victorian Division of the AVA will be preparing a submission in response to the Plan for Victoria's new animal care and protection laws which will replace Victoria’s current Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986. 

Tasmania

  • The AVA has been advocating for the veterinary profession in the development of the Tasmanian Strategy for Wildlife. 

New South Wales

Australian Capital Territory

  • AVA ACT Division President September 2022 Update - Dr Michael Hayward advises one of the responsibilities of AVA Divisions is to be involved in advocacy – for and on behalf of animals, animal owners and users, and of course veterinarians. The ACT Division committee has been busy advocating for high standards of animal husbandry and welfare, and for the role of veterinarians in animal care.   

Queensland

  • Filling of scripts from another veterinarian - recent changes to the Medicines & Poisons Act 2019 (Amendment Regulation 2022) have been made. 
  • EAD preparedness - the QLD CVO and the BQ Director held a workshop with the QLD Division at their September meeting. This was a collaborative discussion around how the AVA and DAF work together to identify and rectify gaps in EAD preparedness. 
  • Advocacy Updates - updates on EAD preparedness and response, along with changes to Medicines and Poisons regulations. 

South Australia

  • Division President update - a busy two months for the AVA in South Australia, which included welcoming the SA Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development to our annual seminar in Robe in August. 
  • SA Veterinary Regulation - new SA Veterinary Practice legislation is underway. Following extensive consultation during the last couple of years, the Minister has just informed us that drafting of a new Veterinary Services Bill is now underway. This is a major milestone in reforming the way the profession is regulated in South Australia. 

Northern Territory

  • EAD Preparedness and response - at its recent committee meeting, the AVA NT Division was joined by Dr Cindy Dudgeon from the NT Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade (DITT). Dr Dudgeon discussed the current EAD risks with the Committee. 

Western Australia

  • Advocacy Update - the AVA Advocacy team, in consultation with the WA Division Committee, placed a submission for the WA Veterinary Regulations 2022 Tranche 2 consultation that was consistent with AVA policies and positions. Included in this submission, the AVA called for the regulation surrounding veterinary students’ prescribed abilities to be changed – in order to allow veterinary students to undertake their prescribed and supervised acts of vet medicine while in an employed role with a vet practice. Further consultation will be undertaken by DPIRD regarding the new regulations, and the AVA will continue to be informed and involved with this. 
  • EAD and Disaster Preparedness - the AVA continues to participate in meetings and be kept informed by DPIRD around activities and planning for a possible incursion of an emergency animal disease such as FMD or LSD, or a natural disaster emergency. Three DPIRD staff presented on the EAD topic at the AVA WA Southern Branch seminar held in Albany in September. 
  • Animal Welfare Act review - the WA Committee, with the support of the Advocacy team, will be following up on the outcomes of recommendations made during the 2019-2020 review of the WA Animal Welfare Act. This will include the aspects such as a veterinarian’s authority to euthanise animals to relieve suffering, as well as Animal Hoarding issues. 

 

Key advocacy activities (Special Interest Groups)

The special interest groups are all undertaking advocacy activities and we will report these in the next update. 

 

Public Affairs Update 

During August and September, the AVA participated in a wide range of external stakeholder meetings, covering a range of issues from animal welfare, regulatory issues, pet food standards, graduate transition, antimicrobial stewardship and biosecurity including: 

  • Meetings with external stakeholders in Canberra 
  • Meetings to discuss veterinary legislation 
  • Meetings around FMD/LSD 
  • Meeting with international veterinary organisations 
  • Contribution to industry stakeholder working groups in the animal sector 

Since the last report the AVA has featured in the media and social media regularly. The topics that the AVA has provided comment on are: 

  • Animal welfare issues 
  • HECS fee forgiveness 
  • Veticare 
  • Mental health 
  • Emergency Animal Disease 

We hope you are all staying safe in these challenging times and welcome any feedback you have around our updates, please email publicvetaffairs@ava.com.au 

 

Best Wishes, 

Cristy Secombe, Graham Pratt, Melanie Latter, and Jeffrey Wilkinson, on behalf of the Veterinary and Public Affairs team