A new government initiative to address acute shortages of vets across rural NSW has been welcomed by the peak farming body in New South Wales.
Under the NSW Government’s Welcome Experience program, vets, vet nurses, vet technicians, and their families are now eligible to receive assistance with sourcing housing, childcare, and other services when moving to rural NSW.
NSW Farmers’ member Dr Robyn Alders AO expressed the farming communities’ warm welcome to the initiative as they grapple with critical workforce shortages.
Dr Alders emphasized the importance of having access to vets for farmers to care for their livestock effectively, ensuring animal health and disease surveillance, detection, and response are maintained at optimal levels.
While acknowledging the positive step taken by the government, Dr Alders highlighted the need for additional solutions to address the shortage of veterinary workers. Mentoring, training, and incentive programs were proposed as potential solutions in a recent inquiry into vet shortages.
Dr Alders emphasized the importance of building a sustainable veterinary workforce in rural NSW by implementing various solutions that address the complex challenges contributing to the shortage.
She suggested initiatives such as waiving student debt for graduate vets working in rural NSW and fostering partnerships between public and private vet sectors to support rapid exotic animal disease detection and control in the state.
Dr Alders pointed out that governments worldwide are supporting initiatives to ensure the availability of affordable veterinary services to livestock producers, urging the NSW government to do the same.
Source: NSW Farmers
