The Australian Veterinary Association [AVA] represents the interest of its member veterinarians throughout Australia. The future size and structure of the workforce of registered vets, especially those in clinical practice, has emerged as a major issue of concern for the profession. The AVA commissioned Taverner Research to review available sources of data and the published literature on veterinary workforce issues. The aim was to identify specific issues that concern stakeholders about the development of the veterinary workforce, and identify gaps in the available data that would be needed to
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The Australian Veterinary Association [AVA] represents the interest of its member veterinarians throughout Australia. The future size and structure of the workforce of registered vets, especially those in clinical practice, has emerged as a major issue of concern for the profession. The AVA commissioned Taverner Research to review available sources of data and the published literature on veterinary workforce issues. The aim was to identify specific issues that concern stakeholders about the development of the veterinary workforce, and identify gaps in the available data that would be needed to support evidence-based submissions for policy actions by Australian governments to deal with those concerns.
Review of a range of publications, anecdotal information and some published research literature on approaches to workforce forecasting have identified the following key issues: (1) Supply and demand mismatch - there may be an oversupply of vets compared to demand in the near future; (2) Changes in gender workforce composition - as the proportion of women in the profession increases, the full-time equivalent number of practitioners will decrease, despite the increase in the numbers graduating; (3) Workforce location, gender and type of work - the supply of vets willing and able to deliver appropriate services to support production of livestock does not meet the need for services to monitor outbreaks of disease and the improvement of herd health and productivity; (4) Viability of the private practice model - veterinary practice under current market conditions is becoming less financially viable; and (5) Data availability and forecasting - data required to construct a valid model that allows forecasting of the supply and composition of the veterinary workforce and testing of the sensitivity of forecasts to changes in assumptions is largely unavailable. Without such models, it will be very difficult to make a case for policy changes to Australian governments.
Excerpt from publication.
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