Resolutions

Veterinary Industry

Consideration of message No. 192 from the Legislative Council.

(Continued from 30 October 2024.)

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (11:02): I am pleased to speak on this motion to set up the joint committee, as introduced by the Hon. Sarah Game in the other place, looking at not just the health and welfare of veterinarians but also veterinary nurses and looking at the realities of expectations of what people desire when they go to visit their vet. I am from the country and we look after our stock, as I have done over the years, especially way back in the day when I was just growing up on the farm. We had Poll Herefords and we had great service from vets like David Franks and Jack Redden looking after our cattle in various situations.

But when it comes to pets, people are very close to their pets. People expect the utmost care, and I know that that care can be quite expensive. It is not common knowledge that one of the reasons that veterinary services are so expensive is that each veterinary practice needs to have all the equipment and that the vet is on call, essentially, if not most of the day then all day. There are a lot of workplace pressures on them, and sometimes people can be unreasonable when they hear the sad news about the treatment for their pet or when that pet, for humane reasons, cannot be saved. It can be tough. I have family members whose pets are their children because they did not have kids and I can understand that. It can be a very challenging time and an expensive time.

Part of the work that this committee will do will be to look at how perhaps especially people on lower incomes can access veterinary care for their loved animals and also how pet insurance works, and to make it affordable and have affordable schemes so that it is worthwhile having pet insurance. As we have seen over the years with other insurances, especially in light of events like the River Murray flood, insurance premiums go through the roof. Even down at my place in Coomandook those things happen.

I think it is a vital committee because pretty well everyone through their life has contact with a vet or a veterinary clinic. They do great work, and sometimes that work is after hours and it can be all hours. The sad reality is that too many vets have taken their own lives. The practical thing about their job, just like many other jobs—just like pretty well most people involved in agriculture—is that they have access to firearms for obvious use, if they need to, in their line of work. They also have access to drugs and what is colloquially called 'the green dream' in case they need to put an animal down for its own good.

As I said before, that is an incredibly stressful time for a pet owner, and I can understand how people get upset. However, people in those dark situations somehow need to respect the work that both the veterinary nurses and the veterinarians are doing to assist their family.

Vets are highly skilled people who do great work in servicing animals right across the spectrum, not only pets and agricultural animals but also wild animals. I know that is part of the terms of reference, and we must pay respect to the work that vets do in looking after wild animals as well. I fully support this joint committee across both houses, and I look forward to being a part of it.

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (11:08): I, too, really would like to talk today in support of this committee. I am going to talk about it as someone who, like the member for Hammond said before, has pets as their children. I am someone who does not have kids, but I do have a dog and a cat, and I well and truly treat that dog and that cat as if they were very spoilt little kids. I would like to take you through my experience this year in spending almost every week at the vet.

I have, as many would know, an 11-month-old puppy. My 11-month-old puppy, Honey, has had no end of medical issues this year, which have likely been caused by a genetic issue that she may have. I have spent more time at the vet than I would ever have imagined spending in my life, and that is not just her regular vet but a number of specialist vets and behavioural vets. It has honestly been a really eye-opening experience for me in understanding the value of vets, particularly when things are incredibly difficult for someone at home who is trying to manage a sick animal.

As someone who is really busy and does not necessarily have other individuals to help with the support of that animal, it has been a really challenging year. Honey has needed a whole lot of different supports, including quite urgent supports at times when she was sick all through the night, when she was in pain all through the night. For myself, as a busy person with a busy job, not sleeping for days at a time because of how sick she was, I think the impact of that on my life but also what it has shown me about the necessity of a vet has been really important.

Something I think I will say as well is that it has shown me just how easy it is to be upset and desperate in a vet clinic and not knowing what to do, desperate for answers to help that animal but also to help yourself. I have never necessarily considered it in the past, but the impact that a sick animal has on the life of someone who is very busy can be quite significant, and there has been more than one occurrence this year where I have become very emotional in a vet clinic, not knowing what to do, knowing that I have not slept in quite a few days because the dog has been that unwell, and really relying on the support of those vets in those circumstances.

That is something that has really shone a light for me on how difficult it must be to be in an industry like that when not just one person but so many people are there in really vulnerable moments, particularly those who do have their pets as members of their family or as companion animals, because you would of course do anything to make them better. Most importantly as well, your pets of course cannot tell you what is wrong with them or how they are feeling, and not understanding what the issues actually are is such a significant pressure on individuals who would like their pets to be better.

Honey, for example, presented having behavioural issues, and I spent months going through behavioural vet services before actually finding out that it was a physical issue that she had. Again, when somebody cannot tell you what hurts or tell you what the pain is, that process can be a lot longer. The patience that a number of different vet clinics have had with me and our situation, which has been quite complex, has been really wonderful, really supportive, but has also shown to me just how far people in this industry are willing to go to support individuals, their families and their pets.

I think that that is really important, particularly when a lot of those costs can be very expensive, when you are wanting nothing more than your pet to get better or your animal to get better, when you are needing it to happen for your own quality of life for them not to be sick anymore, but those costs can of course often be quite prohibitive.

I can only imagine just how often a vet has to have a difficult conversation with a pet owner about a fee or a charge that they know that pet owner cannot actually afford in order to get that treatment that they need and the impact that may have on the vets, the vet nurses, the support staff, knowing that (a) somebody cannot get the outcome that they need and want for their own physical and mental wellbeing for their pet but also (b) they may be on the receiving end of a really emotional response from individuals who want nothing more than to make their pet better and to be able to afford those services. I think that is really important to talk about.

There is no question in my mind that there would be vets across South Australia or across Australia generally who do try their best to limit costs because they know or they feel that emotional connection and they see how much it means to someone to have that animal, particularly in cases where it is the only thing that a person has. We do know so many examples of individuals who have those companion animals.

Even when you look at housing, for example, we know that a lot of the issues that we have experienced over many years, whether it be looking for public housing or whether it be looking for a private rental, have been because individuals have a companion animal and have struggled to find a place where they can take that animal, who may be their only or their closest family member or friend, and we know how important it is for someone's mental and emotional wellbeing to have that support.

I think that this is a valuable committee. I really do. I think that vets are often on the receiving end of some really emotional and distressing moments for individuals as they go through the process of finding those supports for their pets. I think that it is something that really does encourage a greater degree of analysis and thought as to what we can do to better support those professionals when they are dealing with what can be a really difficult time in people's lives for an extended family member, particularly in relation to the response to those costs.

I can only imagine just how difficult or just how emotional and involved some individuals can get, knowing that they are going to have a bill to help their pet or their animal that they cannot afford and knowing that some people are actually making those decisions to part with their animal because they cannot afford the upkeep of the medical costs.

That, I think, is a really tough thing as well: being in this industry where you watch people say goodbye to their loved ones on a regular basis and knowing that, some of the time at least, individuals are making those decisions because the continued upkeep or the continued care of that pet is altogether too high a task. That is a really tough one as well.

I think that this work is really important in terms of the really high rates of mental health concerns and suicide in the veterinary industry, but I also think that it will play a big role in supporting pet owners as they access those vet services. I do want to today acknowledge all the work of the countless vets that I have been to this year.

Honey has been taken between four different vets in terms of vet specialists, vet imaging and her regular vets. I know that that has been a really difficult process, but we have had the most supportive vets, whether they be behavioural, whether they be specialist, whether they be orthopaedic or whether they be vet imagers and radiographers. They have been the most supportive, wonderful, loving people in the world—not just for me, a stressed, busy individual trying to fix their puppy in between meetings, but also for Honey and the love that I feel that she has been shown in that circumstance. This is really important to me because she is, like for many, a member of my family.

I am very much looking forward to unpacking this work here and also hearing firsthand about the experiences of individuals in the industry. I think it is well worth doing and I do commend the Hon. Sarah Game for bringing this to our attention as a vet herself.

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Veterans Affairs) (11:16): I move:

That this house—

(a) concurs with part 1 of the resolution of the Legislative Council contained in message No. 192 for the appointment of a joint committee on the mental health and wellbeing of veterinarians in South Australia;

(b) concurs with the proposal for the committee to be authorised to disclose or publish, as it thinks fit, any evidence or documents presented to the committee prior to such evidence being reported to the parliament; and

(c) concurs with the proposal to enable members of the committee to participate in the proceedings by way of telephone or videoconference or other electronic means and shall be deemed to be present and counted for purposes of a quorum, subject to such means of participation remaining effective and not disadvantaging any member.

Motion carried.

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: I move:

That this house be represented on the committee by three members of whom two shall form a quorum of assembly members necessary to be present at all sittings of the committee and that the members to represent the House of Assembly on the committee be Mr Pederick, Ms Savvas and Ms Thompson.

Motion carried.