National Veterinary Workforce Data and Governance Roundtable – Canberra August 2024

^{L-R: Dr Mark Schipp, Dr Bronwyn Orr, Dr Sally Colgan, Graham Pratt}

On Monday 19 August, the AVA attended the National Workforce Data and Governance Roundtable. Hosted by the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Beth Cookson, the roundtable was established to foster collaboration among veterinary professionals, academic institutions, industry stakeholders, and policymakers "to pursue a comprehensive data governance solution which can be used as a tool for advocacy, policy making, and planning."

The AVA was strongly represented by President Dr Sally Colgan, Directors Dr Mark Schipp and Dr Gemma Chuck, Senior Government Relations Manager Dr Bronwyn Orr, and National Advocacy Manager Graham Pratt, as well as individual members invited in their business capacity.

The AVA has been a steadfast advocate for veterinary workforce data and planning for over a decade. At the roundtable the AVA strongly advocated for the:

1. Establishment of a Taskforce to develop a structural governance framework 
2. Government to fund data collection and ongoing management
3. Identification of critical data to capture and methods of collection

The time it takes to train new veterinarians means that the labour market responds very slowly to shifts in demand for veterinary services. This leads to prolonged periods of shortage like what the profession is experiencing.

Improved data is key to giving the AVA, policymakers, regulators, educators, veterinary businesses, and other stakeholders the information they need to act on existing and future workforce gaps.

The roundtable brought together all of these groups and involved 66 attendees from across the profession, including representatives from commonwealth and state/territory governments, veterinary schools, veterinary practitioner boards, ANZCVS and private businesses and corporations.

During the day, it was recognised that while we don’t have a uniform veterinary workforce database, we do have many of the elements that could be integrated into one. There was strong support for finding a way to pull this data together and address key gaps.

We valued the opportunity to participate in this crucial roundtable discussion and are committed to enhancing the industry's and policymakers' effectiveness through comprehensive and reliable data. 

A communique from the day will be shared as soon as it is available.