SA Division President Update - July 2023

Activities last few months:

• AVA conference here in Adelaide – success all around and great to catch up face to face with colleagues.
• Launch of Sophie’s Legacy – so much good and incredible to have the chance to speak with Gary at the AVA conference.
• Media release: Clare Scriven, MLC Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Tuesday 27 June 2023 Modernising Veterinary services in South Australia through the new bill
• This prompted: Radio interview with Tom Mann, Breakfast ABC North and West SA, this morning. Key points discussed were how this might help the veterinary shortage – through more streamlined processing of registration of new vets and returning to the profession entrants, also retaining semi-retired veterinarians on a ‘sleeping’ register to be able to be quickly reinstated in case of state or national emergency or need, e.g., bushfires, exotic disease outbreak.
• Also, this morning – I participated in the newly formed VSBSA Dispensing of Medications Working Group – the first meeting was today, 28 June, next in around a month. I urge any members to email me or the VSBSA with any points they need clarifying regarding dispensing, prescribing and treating animals with medications in South Australia.
• We look forward to the coming Annual Meeting on the 19 July. We are calling for interested members to join the AVA Division Committee.

Some goals in our sights for next year include the following:

• Collegiality
• Working groups to draft changes to propose to the EPA to alter the Radiation Protection and Control Act 2021 and its regulations to enable qualified veterinary nurses and veterinary technicians to set up and take radiographs of animal patients under the direction of a licensed veterinary surgeon in attendance. To bring into line with the human dental sector and radiation legislation of other states.