Regional vet shortages fuel push for student placement support

Veterinarians are calling for more government support to attract and retain professionals in rural Australia, where it often takes more than a year to fill jobs.

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) wants student vets to be offered more financial support during placements, along with other incentives to encourage students to take up rural jobs after graduation.

"Vets have one of the highest requirements for prac work of any profession [at] 52 weeks … over the course of their studies," said rural veterinary practice manager Jason Chuck.

"It would go a hell of a long way to help us attract them out into the country if they were financially supported to do so during their studies."

The AVA's most recent veterinary workforce survey in 2024 found more than a third of all veterinary positions took more than a year to fill.

Shortages were higher in regional areas, where 44 per cent of roles remained vacant for extended periods of 12 months or more.

Rural scholarship changed Arran's path

Veterinary science graduate Arran Hersburgh once expected to specialise in treating small animals.

Originally from Melbourne, he now works almost 3,000 kilometres away, in the far north Queensland town of Malanda, at Tableland Veterinary Service, run by Mr Chuck.

"When I started uni, I didn't know the front end of the cow from the back," he said.

"But when I started my farm placements, particularly just the end of the first year, on a cattle property in central Queensland, the people really opened my eyes to the rural lifestyle and how rewarding it could be."

Dr Hersburgh now helps train students on placement at the clinic.

"If we want more people to move to these areas, we need to show them why they might want to, and they can't do that unless they go there,"

he said.

"One good experience as a student can change your life."

However, Dr Hersburgh said financial barriers often limited students' opportunities.

"Working three jobs at a time through uni to pay for placements isn't very sustainable, and it really limits the exposure that people can get," he said.

"Not having any financial support means that it's a very real barrier for almost all students."

A scholarship from the clinic where he now works allowed him to gain experience in rural practice and ultimately pursue mixed practice, working with both large and small animals.

"If it wasn't for [the scholarship], I wouldn't have had the chance to experience all these things," Dr Hersburgh said.

Vet workforce under review

Mr Chuck said a range of factors contributed to rural workforce shortages, including urbanisation and concerns about work-life balance and after-hours work.

"Some of the perception around the challenges of after-hours care are already being addressed by the profession," he said.

"Now, we really just need to do a better job of showing our young, new and recent graduates that perhaps some of the challenges they've heard about aren't as significant as maybe they fear."

Mr Chuck said veterinary science students should be added to the Commonwealth Prac Payment scheme, which took effect last July.

It provides financial assistance to students undertaking mandatory placements in teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work.

In a statement, a Department of Education spokesperson said the Universities Accord recommended further work on how employers could reduce financial hardship for students in fields outside nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work.

An independent review of the Rural and Remote HELP Debt Reduction Program was also commissioned to consider potential expansion to professional groups outside of the current scheme, which includes teachers, doctors and nurse practitioners.

The review said commonwealth departments were doing work to better quantify workforce shortages in groups such as vets, which would be "vital to informing any policy decisions about eligibility for a like program".