International Sheep Veterinary Congress returns to Australia in October

For the first time in almost 30 years, Australia will host the International Sheep Veterinary Congress (ISVC), with the 2025 event to be held in Wollongong from 27–31 October. 

Run every 3 years, ISVC brings together leading sheep veterinary experts from across the globe, with the host country chosen through a competitive bid process. Australia won the hosting rights in 2021, marking the first time the event has been held here since 1997 in Armidale. 

Delegate registration must close 3 October, register now to lock in your attendance at ISVC 2025. 

Dr Andrew Whale, Chair of ISVC 2025, says the return of the conference to Australia is an exciting opportunity. 

“It's exciting to bring that international group to Australia. Our veterinary sheep skills are pretty advanced, and I think we do a really wonderful job of helping Australian sheep producers, but we do it in a very different way to a lot of the other countries.” 

According to Dr Whale, Australia is at the forefront of herd medicine and management, while many other countries lead in individual animal medicine. This creates a valuable opportunity for knowledge sharing between practitioners. 

“Having these international vets come and talk to us about how they do things more on an individual basis can be really useful, particularly young practitioners learning about sheep veterinary work and sheep medicine. We can educate a lot of people on how to manage a whole flock, but maybe that individual stuff is where we've got a fair bit to learn.” 

The 2025 event is expected to attract around 150 overseas veterinarians alongside 200 Australian vets. Planning began in early 2024, with an experienced organising committee led by Dr Whale and supported by Drs Kathryn Humphries, Mary McQuillan, Peter Windsor, Bruce Watt, Graham Lean and Colin Trengove. 

“It's quite inspiring working with these people who have given up their time to bring something like this together, and most of them are pretty busy people in their own rights, but they're all sort of pulling together... the saying of many hands make light work, is quite true. I feel like it's been a very united committee with what we've been trying to do.” 

Dr Whale says a key focus has been fostering younger participation in the field. 

“We've been really trying to encourage the next generation of vets. A lot of people finish university with a desire to work with sheep, but then they go out and find it hard generating income from sheep. 

“The demographics of who is attending sheep conferences is changing, and it’s becoming younger. When I first went to conferences as a new grad, I felt like there wasn't many people that were under 40, whereas I feel like our most recent conferences, it’s mainly 25 to 35 year olds. It’s an industry that is rapidly changing, and there is plenty of opportunity for vets to be involved.” 

Dr Whale believes in the power of face-to-face networking, saying building connections can help you in the long run. 

“If people can network at these types of things, it makes your job so much easier. When you get stuck doing something or you're out of your depth, you can call someone that you've met at a conference, and they're always willing to help you. There's a lot of collegiality in all aspects of veterinary medicine, but the sheep veterinary communities, they're just wonderful.” 

He says his own career benefited from those connections: “There's a few people I'll call, particularly when I was starting out. I always had different people I would call on and reach out to when you felt like you're out of your depth, or just wanted to make sure you were on the right path when diagnosing something or communicating something with clients.” 

ISVC 2025 promises to provide a unique platform for professional development, practical knowledge exchange, and international collaboration, all while showcasing Australia’s world-class sheep veterinary expertise. Register here.