Commencement of the Veterinary Practice Act 2021

To enable the new Veterinary Practice Act 2021 to commence operation as soon as possible, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, the Hon. Alannah MacTiernan MLC, has advised the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) to expedite development of the regulations by implementing them in two tranches.

Therefore, the new Act and Tranche 1 of the Veterinary Practice Regulations will be brought into effect before 30 June 2022. Tranche 1 contains:

• essential and/or machinery provisions, and
• otherwise retains the substance of the provisions under the Veterinary Surgeon Regulations 1979.

Tranche 2 of the new regulations will be developed with broad stakeholder consultation. This will update and improve substantive provisions to produce contemporary, fit-for-purpose regulations for the veterinary profession.

Further information can be found on the DPIRD website.

The Board will be providing further details in subsequent newsletters and emails to registered veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses and other stakeholders.