TAS Division President Monthly Update - November

Hi everyone,

I have recently celebrated a year on the Tasmanian AVA committee, the majority of this as president. It has been a very steep learning curve and I have learnt so much about the behind the scenes and the staff of the AVA work very hard on both local and national issues. The AVA plays a vital role in advocating for our profession, working hard to improve things both for our members and their patients. I look forward to updating you all about the vital work also that your elected members on the Tasmanian Division Committee are doing and hopefully sparking some passion from others to join our ranks!

Currently, your committee members and AVA advocacy staff are working hard to bring about changes to veterinary care of wildlife. We are talking to government officials to get the unpaid veterinary work for wildlife recognised and hopefully bring about reform to this. In the coming months we will be reaching out to veterinary practices to try to collect some data about the amount of unpaid work we are doing for our wildlife. Veterinarians treat wildlife to the best of their ability due to their personal and professional ethics, but this is costing veterinary practices a large amount of money and is causing extra emotional and mental strain for the staff. If you wish to make any comment on the veterinary care of wildlife, then please feel free to contact the AVA.

We have also been busy organising and attending the Tasmanian AVA conference in Hobart. It was a great conference, with informative speakers and an excellent social program. Nowadays, it is important that we support any opportunity for our members and non-members to catch up face to face. Our yearly conference is a highlight in our CPD calendar, and we hope that you will continue to support this incredible event. I would like to thank our committee members and the national AVA team for all the hard work that they have put in to make the conference of huge success.

If you would like to discuss any issues that you are experiencing within the industry including the impact of wildlife and unpaid veterinary services, express interest in joining the committee or anything CPD topics you would like to experience, then please reach out to Dr Kristen Steele (Senior Advocacy Officer) kristen.steele@ava.com.au. I look forward to talking to you all.

Keep safe,
Rhianna