Will NSW Labor commit to substantial investment in the undervalued, underpaid, and increasingly corporatised veterinary workforce?

Low pay and poor working conditions are impacting NSW veterinary workers and exacerbating a critical shortage. Today in Parliament, Abigail contributed to a debate, advocating for robust investment and support for the veterinary workforce.

Abigail said:

I speak on behalf of The Greens to support the motion. I speak as both The Greens' animal welfare spokesperson and as a participating member of the recent inquiry into the veterinary workforce shortage in New South Wales. New South Wales is facing an alarming veterinary workforce shortage, which is having devastating impacts on humans and animals. The inquiry confirmed what has long been known: The veterinary workforce is categorised by high attrition rates and vacancies, with many professionals experiencing burnout and stress and working long, often unpaid, hours with lower salaries than other professions, despite the critical and specialised work that they do caring for sick, injured, lost and abandoned animals.

During the inquiry, we heard that the vast majority of vets enter into that line of work because they are passionate about helping animals. It is one of the reasons why so many dedicate countless unpaid hours of their time and often treat wildlife, stray animals and companion animals for free, with some practices spending hundreds of thousands of dollars caring for animals that, in many cases, would otherwise be left to die. That passion and dedication does not preclude the immense stress and trauma that often comes with providing constant, intensive and confronting animal care, including euthanasia, emergency rescue and treatment, and dealing with frightened, abused and neglected animals.

Veterinarians, vet technicians and vet nurses provide an important public service that cannot be substituted, yet their work is undervalued and underpaid. As decades have passed, the proportion of government-run veterinary practices has steadily declined. Today, we are faced with an almost entirely privatised industry. During the inquiry, we heard evidence about the increasing corporatisation of the veterinary sector paired with increasingly less government funding for publicly owned practices, which has in turn produced an unsustainable workforce and exacerbated the challenges faced by workers today. We must robustly invest in a public veterinary industry that has a highly skilled, highly paid and resilient workforce in which the labour of each worker is valued. Doing so will attract workers who want to and are able to stay in the industry long term and provide high-quality care for animals in our community.

Professionals Australia, the union for vets in Australia, points out that the issue is not that there is a shortage of trained vets but that there is a shortage of vets willing to work in an unsustainable workforce categorised by poor pay and working conditions. I thank the Hon. Emma Hurst for moving the motion and for her work on the inquiry into the New South Wales veterinary workforce shortage and in the space more broadly. The work of such inquiries is critical in doing the groundwork and providing a framework for the necessary action to reform. The New South Wales Labor Government has demonstrated in-principle support for many of the recommendations out of the inquiry. I urge the Government to not only implement the changes but commit long-term investment in rebuilding a strong, resilient and sustainable veterinary sector.

Read the full debate in Hansard here.

23 October 2024

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

No matter who you are or what you do, everyone has the right to share in the wellbeing of our country.

But at the moment the essentials so many of us need – a place to call home, food on the table, and everyday essentials like electricity, internet, medicine and water – are simply out of reach.

Instead of supporting us, our government is choosing to prop up huge corporations with massive subsidies, and to give away our collective wealth through record tax cuts for the wealthy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to live paycheck to paycheck or trapped in the dehumanising bureaucracy of our existing welfare system.

Now, in the midst of a pandemic, and following quickly on the heels of the bushfire crisis, more of us than ever before are experiencing what it’s like to lose our jobs, be without a home, or worry about where the food for our next meal will come from.

It’s time for us to choose to prioritise the wellbeing of everyone.

And that’s exactly what the Universal Wellbeing Payment will do.

It’s a regular payment made to each of us to ensure our minimum standard of wellbeing. No means testing, no bureaucracy, no strings attached.

It’s the amount you’re owed simply for being a participant in our society.

It means you are free to live your life and contribute to society as you see fit, whether you’re a carer, an artist, a student, a parent, an entrepreneur – you can get on with what you need to do, knowing that you will always be supported regardless of your income.

It means that we’re choosing to structure our economy for the benefit of all of us, not using our collective wealth to prop up the interests of big business and the wealthy few.

It means you will always have what you need to live a good life, no matter what.

The Universal Wellbeing Payment is for everyone. Help us make it happen.

For more information, head to universalwellbeingpayment.com.au

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Will NSW Labor commit to substantial investment in the undervalued, underpaid, and increasingly corporatised veterinary workforce?

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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