Advocacy
Advocacy
The NZVA advocates for members on various issues affecting the veterinary profession, including business sustainability, veterinary wellbeing and animal welfare.
Key advocacy topics
| Veterinary shortage - New Zealand urgently needs more veterinarians from other countries! |
| Restricted veterinary medicines - This advocacy section relates to the NZVA work regarding short-term and long-term actions needed to address concerns regarding veterinary authorisation and restricted veterinary medicine (RVM) procurement practices. |
| Intensive winter grazing - Winter grazing (including wintering on crops) is used in New Zealand pastoral farming systems to ensure animals have access to feed at a time of the year when pasture growth is limited, and pasture management is challenging. |
| Veterinary education - Advocacy work relating to findings from the Veterinary Schools of Australia and New Zealand (VSANZ) report, Rethinking Veterinary Education, which followed a review of veterinary education in Australasia. |
| Emergency Management Bill - The NZVA is advocating for animals to be included in the Emergency Management Bill, which would replace the Civil Defence Emergency Act 2002. |
NZVA Policy Advisory Committee
The NZVA Policy Advisory Committee is a subcommittee of the NZVA Board of Directors, with a delegated authority to develop, review and approve NZVA Policies and Position Statements.
NZVA Policy Framework
NZVA positioning and member guidance on various issues is found in the NZVA policy framework. These documents set out the NZVA’s science and evidence-based positioning on issues affecting the veterinary profession, for both NZVA members and the public.
Member consultation
The NZVA team manages consultation on the NZVA's positioning through the NZVA policy framework
The member consultation process was developed in response to co-design workshops run in 2018/2019. These workshops uncovered a clear member expectation for wider and more thorough consultation.
As a result, consultation pathways have been created for NZVA policy development and media responses
The NZVA team also facilitates consultation processes to provide member feedback on external stakeholders' work.
