Relieving the Burden: AVA backs bill to ease financial pressure on early career veterinarians

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) has submitted its support for the Education and Other Legislation Amendment (Abolishing Indexation and Raising the Minimum Repayment Income for Education and Training Loans) Bill 2022 to the Senate Standing Committees on Education and Employment. 

The AVA recognises and welcomes the measures outlined in the bill to improve the fairness of various tertiary and vocational education loan schemes. The Association particularly supports raising the minimum repayment threshold for tertiary education loans to the median wage and removing the indexation of these loans. This will provide some relief to early career veterinarians, who are facing significant financial strain due to low starting salaries and long-term underinvestment in the profession. 

Addressing the veterinary workforce shortage is a priority for the profession, and the AVA believes that addressing financial pressures on recent graduate veterinarians is crucial to help address this problem. Data from the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) shows that new veterinary graduates are earning low salaries that have barely kept up with inflation in recent years, despite incurring large debts from their studies. 

The AVA's submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Education and Employment along with other projects such as advocating for HECS fee forgiveness aims to draw attention to the urgent need for financial support and relief for early career veterinarians. The Association hopes that the measures outlined in the Education and Other Legislation Amendment (Abolishing Indexation and Raising the Minimum Repayment Income for Education and Training Loans) Bill 2022 will be considered seriously and progress through the parliamentary process. The submission can be found on the submissions page.