Summary of the outcomes of the AHC Private Practitioner engagement Working
Group.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and the Animal Health
Committee (AHC) established the Private Practitioner engagement working group to:
1. develop overarching guidance for the application of nationally consistent arrangements
for private veterinary practitioners engaged in an emergency animal disease (EAD)
response.
2. develop an outline of contractual arrangements and employment conditions that could
be used as a national template. The outline should specify all contractual inclusions,
exclusions and expected standards of conduct.
3. propose options for the engagement of private veterinary practitioners in EAD response
roles across all jurisdictions, taking into consideration the work of the AHC FMD
resourcing working group and the number of private veterinarians expected to be
required in a medium to large scale outbreak of a high-impact EAD affecting livestock.
Membership
CHAIR: Ms Sharon Turner
Dr Jakob Malmo
Dr Ben Gardiner
Dr Geoff Withers
Dr Nancy Bombardieri
Ms Fiona Thompson
Dr Richard Rubira
Mr Simon Kempson
Dr Michael Paton
Dr Dwane O’Brien
Ms Kristy McPhillips
Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry
Honorary Professorial Fellow, Faculty of Veterinary Science,
University of Melbourne Registered Veterinary Specialist in
Veterinary Medicine - Cattle Medicine, Maffra Veterinary
Centre
President, Australian Veterinary Association
Shepparton Veterinary Clinic
Acting Manager, Emergency Management, Biosecurity SA
Industry Liaison Officer, Biosecurity Queensland
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry
Director Industrial Relations, NSW Trade & Investment
Department of Agriculture and Food WA
Principal Veterinary Officer, VIC Department of Primary
Industries
Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry
The working group has also been supported by Dr Ron Glanville, former Queensland CVO.
Considerations of the working group
The working group met in Melbourne on 12-13 June 2013 and later by teleconference to
discuss the best options, arrangements and conditions for engaging private veterinarians in
an EAD response that would ensure equity and consistency across jurisdictions.
The working group discussed numerous options and agreed that the most efficient and
flexible arrangement would be to cater for engagement of private veterinarians as either
employees or contractors of the jurisdiction, under terms based on nationally agreed
arrangements to ensure consistency. It was considered that jurisdictions will be best placed
to manage the logistics of recruitment via their control centres, as they will have local
knowledge of both the available veterinary capacity and the disease response requirements
which would expedite deployment.
The Commonwealth will provide support to the responding jurisdiction(s) for crossjurisdictional resource deployment, secondments and the management of international
emergency veterinary reserves.
The working group agreed on two options for engagement of private veterinarians by the
jurisdiction:
(i)
Government employee: The veterinarian is engaged directly by the responding
jurisdiction (relevant State government Department of Agriculture / Primary
Industries) as a government employee on either a temporary or casual basis.
(ii)
Contractor: The veterinarian is directly contracted by the responding jurisdiction to
perform specified services to support the response. The contract may be entered into
with an individual, a partnership, a trust or a company.
A package of three documents was developed to provide guidance to private veterinarians
and to assist with the application of consistent arrangements across all jurisdictions:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
A national guidance document for government and private veterinarians;
A standard contract elements document for use with contractors; and:
An outline of employment conditions for private veterinarians engaged as
employees
The national guidance document (attached) provides overarching advice on engagement
arrangements and options, including advice on which circumstances are best suited to
engaging private veterinarians as contractors or as jurisdictional employees. Of most
significance is that veterinarians employed within control centres will normally be engaged
as employees. Contractor arrangements are best suited to veterinarians working semiindependently in field based roles. The guidance document also covers a range of other
issues, including methods of engagement, indicative remuneration rates, an outline of the
potential roles for private veterinarians, what induction and training will be provided and
performance criteria.
The employment conditions document includes a proposed schedule of Commonwealth pay
rates that salaries for private veterinarians should be indexed against. This will provide
jurisdictions with a benchmark for what they should be paying private veterinarians
engaged as employees during an EAD response. The document also covers leave and
overtime entitlements, superannuation information, accommodation/travel allowances,
expected duties and training.
The proposed salary and contractor rates, as well as some other issues of detail will be
submitted to Animal health Committee for their consideration in Oct / Nov 2013.
The standard contract document outlines the nationally consistent contract elements and
engagement terms that should be offered to all private veterinarians engaged in an EAD
response. These standardised elements include items such as pay rates, insurance
requirements, background and context of the EAD, reporting requirements, accommodation
and travel allowances. The working group will be recommending to AHC an hourly payment
rate of $150 (excluding GST) for private veterinarians engaged as contractors. The
contractor rate is all inclusive with no additional employee entitlements. Mileage,
consumables and accommodation costs will be paid for by the jurisdiction.
In determining this hourly rate, private veterinarians’ views on an acceptable pay rates were
sought by the private veterinarians and Australian Veterinary Association representatives on
the working group. Based on the information received, and outcomes of the equine
influenza outbreak, consensus was that a rate of $60 per hour with a multiplier of 2.5 was
appropriate. The amount of $60 per hour was based on an average annual salary figure for a
government veterinarian involved in an EAD response, while the multiplier was used to
meet current market rates for veterinary services. This hourly rate equates to $1500 a day
based on a 10 hour work day.
The other main principles within these documents that the working group will propose to be
adopted as national policy by Animal Health Committee include:
1. Upfront communication on engagement terms: It is important that private
veterinarians be provided with sufficient information on the conditions of
engagement so that they can make an informed decision on their potential
involvement well before formal arrangements are entered into.
2. Contractor insurance: The working group agreed a number of criteria concerning
when it would be most appropriate to engage a private vet as either an employee or
contractor. It was agreed that if veterinarians are to act as contractors, they must
carry their own public liability and professional indemnity insurance or be in the
employment of a veterinary practice and thus be covered by their insurance policy.
This insurance cover must be at levels (yet to be determined) that will be deemed
appropriate by the supervising jurisdiction. If the private veterinarian does not have
insurance then they may be engaged as a jurisdictional employee and thus covered
under government insurance arrangements.
3. The working group will also recommend that private veterinarians engaged as
employees be paid levels indexed against the veterinary and science pay scales
within the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
It is expected that jurisdictions will pay private veterinarians the award pay scale that
is closest to the agreed Commonwealth rate. Mileage if a government vehicle is not
supplied will paid by the jurisdiction as well as consumables and accommodation
costs.
Three salary levels will be used for veterinarians engaged as employees:
(i)
(ii)
Private veterinarian with less than 5 years experience since graduation
Private veterinarian with more than 5 years experience since graduation or
has particular areas of expertise
Private veterinarian with more than 5 years experience since graduation, plus
completion of additional training for roles in an LCC such as coordinator of
tracing, coordinator of surveillance, IP Operations etc.
(iii)
The package should give both government and the private practitioners some transparency
and certainty going forward, so that in the crucial early stages of a rapid EAD response there
are robust and agreed systems in place for engagement of private practitioners.
DAFF will submit the package of documents to the Animal Health Committee (the CVOs
from each of the states and the Commonwealth) for comment and endorsement as national
policy at their next meeting in November 2013.
Background
The response to some EAD’s require veterinary resources that are in excess of those
employed in the various state/territory governments in Australia. Private practitioners and
other private veterinarians are an essential resource that can supplement the government
veterinarians in the effected jurisdictions.
The 2007 equine influenza outbreak was the single largest animal disease emergency in
Australia’s history, involving widespread infection within limited areas of two states. In
order to obtain the resources necessary to control this outbreak, jurisdictions engaged large
numbers of personnel from outside their departments using a wide variety of engagement /
employment arrangements.
Subsequently, the Animal Health Australia report of the National Review of Australia’s
Response to the 2007 Outbreak of Equine Influenza1 identified a number of significant issues
relating to the employment of staff in an emergency animal disease response including:



1
The processes for procuring and delivering the necessary services from external
sources during a crisis was unclear to many government responders.
Difficulties with the employment of private veterinarians during the response
resulted from the level of remuneration offered, and differing scales of
remuneration in neighbouring jurisdictions, leading to inequities. Remuneration
levels were not enough to attract sufficient numbers of veterinarians.
Many veterinarians had concerns about employment conditions, especially
insurance arrangements and reimbursement of essential travel costs.
Veterinarians in practice may be able to use their practice insurance in this
situation, but it was found very difficult to obtain insurance for groups such as
retired veterinarians. Investigations into obtaining suitable insurance cover failed
to identify suitable insurance packages, but this will be further investigated.
Animal Health Australia. Report of the National Review of Australia’s Response to the 2007 outbreak of
equine influenza. Animal Health Australia, Canberra, March 2009, P43