Australasian Veterinary Boards Council Inc.
The Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC) serves its nine member boards, through:
- providing a forum for communication and discussion of areas of mutual interest and policy development;
- providing the framework for public and industry confidence in veterinary standards; and
- assuring and promoting educational standards in the accreditation of veterinary schools, the National Veterinary Examination and specialist accreditation.
Background
AVBC was incorporated in Victoria in December 1999 by agreement of the state and territory Veterinary Boards of Australia and the Veterinary Council of New Zealand. Their aim was to create a legal entity with authority to speak and act on behalf of all registering authorities. The impetus was the devolution of the National Veterinary Examination from the federal government to the Boards.
The AVBC Inc. assumed the functions and finances of the former Australian Veterinary Boards Conference. The Conference was set up in 1985 to provide the various state and territory veterinary boards the opportunity to discuss issues affecting the practice of veterinary science in Australia and to assist in the standardisation of acceptable veterinary practice. As veterinarians belong to a fairly mobile profession and at that stage were required to register separately in almost every state/ territory in which they wished to practise (and adhere to the particular legislation in force in that jurisdiction), such a meeting was held on an annual basis. In 1988 the then New Zealand Veterinary Surgeons Board made an application to become a participant and commenced attending meetings in 1990.
The AVBC Inc. has no legislative power to impose any decisions made at meetings on any participating member Board. The annual conferences have in the past provided a venue for general reporting and have addressed specific issues, for which over time there has been Australia-wide agreement, for example the recognition of overseas qualifications.
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