Leading rural veterinary organisations are calling for urgent HECS incentives – similarly seen with medical and teaching degrees – to attract vets to the regions.
Apiam Animal Health says there are not enough rural or regional vets to go around as demand booms.
The Australian Veterinary Association has also called for action on regional vet shortages.
Doctor Abigail Lyons, a 26-year-old graduate from Murdoch University in Perth, moved to Maffra in early 2021 to work as an associate small animal veterinarian at Gippsland Vet Hospital.
Relocating to the town with her partner, who is also a vet, Dr Lyons said it was a challenging adjustment for her to go from city to regional life, but it had been a rewarding experience. She has enjoyed getting involved in the local netball and tennis.
“A big challenge was being away from family; but I’ve really enjoyed living here rurally,” Dr Lyons said.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunities that I don’t think people who live in the city acknowledge or realise. I didn’t realise all the communities that were out here…(such as) your sporting teams.
“We’re looking at staying for a while. We’ve enjoyed it out here and have really settled in Maffra as a town.”
The move has been a fantastic opportunity for the pair to develop their skills as vets.
“Our clinic is quite attractive in the equipment we’ve got, and the staff are great. I think we’re lucky, but (clinics) are always looking for more vets.”
HECS hasn’t been a major issue for Dr Lyons, as she paid for her course upfront; but she pointed out that veterinary courses are longer and more expensive than many typical three-year degrees – her course required five years of full-time study and was quite intensive.
Despite this, Dr Lyons said that vets aren’t paid very well.
“It’s also very difficult for you to work during that uni degree because you are hands-on every single day…so it’s hard to have jobs and acquire savings,” she said.
Dr Lyons said that partly or fully forgiving veterinary graduates’ HECS loans if they live a set number of years in a regional or rural area would be a great incentive, and would help with the vet shortages in these areas.
“(The community) would benefit from that as well. There’s more pet ownership now and more demand for vets everywhere, but demand is so high in regional and rural areas,” she said.
There has been a substantial boom in pet ownership since 2019, with an estimated 30.4 million pets nationally.
The proportion of pet-owning households has increased significantly from 61 per cent to 69 per cent in just over two years – led by a surge in dog ownership.
Australia needs vets to meet the health needs of the largest cattle herd in 50 years. In 2023, the national cattle herd will reach its highest level since 2014 at 28.8 million head, increasing 1.1m or 4.5 per cent year-on-year.
Apiam Managing Director Chris Richards said it was time the government took the rural veterinary workforce shortages as seriously as teaching and health.
“The rural veterinary workforce shortages are not going anywhere as we compete with not only the metro centres, but overseas as well,” Mr Richards said.
“Demand for veterinary services in the regions is booming, largely due to rising population, as well as the growing ‘humanisation’ of pets.
“To meet this growing demand we must not only attract, but retain veterinary talent.”
Around 20 per cent of Apiam’s new graduate vets return home within the first two or three years of employment, in most cases to metropolitan areas. Many of these graduates also go overseas.
Mr Richards says HECS forgiveness needs to focus on time or length requirements for it to work, calling for a minimum four-year rural/regional placement.
“To get HECS forgiveness right, it is crucial that we instil a minimum length of time, such as four years, that these graduates have to complete their placements in the regions.”
Regional areas in 2020-21 grew at a similar rate to the previous year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
This was driven by record levels of internal migration, with regional areas gaining 49,000 people from capital cities in 2020-21, up from 30,000 in 2019-20.
