WA Division President October Update 2023

Dear colleagues,

My 3-year term as the President of the AVA’s WA Division will conclude in early November. It has been a busy period for me, but a rewarding experience. It was a huge challenge to juggle the responsibilities of this role alongside my other work and family commitments, but I genuinely hope that I helped to make improvements to the profession over this time.

Highlights for me are the enhancement of relationships with key people and organisations that have influence over our profession, including Murdoch University, DPIRD, Veterinary Practitioners Board of WA, the Veterinary Nurses Council of Australia, political figures (both State and Federal), other government agencies, RSPCA WA, Pastoralists and Graziers Association,  Vets Beyond Borders, Vets for Climate Action, Wildlife WA, AMIRRC and more. I have also been proud of the achievements made to promote pet-friendliness in society and the role of vets in maintaining animal health and welfare.

My term involved dealing with several difficult events, including Covid-19 and the Perth Hills (Woorooloo) Fires of 2021. I am in awe of the generosity shown by many of our vets and nurses who offered their time and expertise to help respond to these disaster events. Our profession will continue to feel the reverberations for decades.

I strived to build the AVA’s relationships with WA media organisations, and as a result we are now contacted regularly for our opinion on newsworthy matters involving animals in WA.

One area where I did not achieve as much progress as I would have liked was the establishment of AVA’s WA Branches. Whilst technically the branches are now in place, the level of engagement in all directions has been difficult to maintain. Nevertheless, we did put on some great CE and networking events and the foundation has been set for these to grow into the future. I also remain disappointed with the process to develop and implement WA’s new Veterinary legislation. The second tranche of the Regulations have still not been completed and whilst the government has been receptive to our input, I am yet to see the content of our many submissions make their way into the drafting process.  

My immense and heartfelt thanks goes to the other members of the AVA WA Division Committee who have supported me in this role: You’ve made my job enjoyable to the point where I looked forward to every one of our Division meetings, and I am so grateful for the time, effort, and humour you have all put in over recent years.

I intend to remain on the WA Division Committee of the AVA, and wish president-elect Katie Kreutz all the best once her term officially commences following our November Annual Meeting.

Regards,

Garnett Hall