Rata Kararehe Veterinary Services and Animal Care

In developing the Veterinary Services and Animal Care workforce development plan, our engagement with industry highlighted that retention is a key issue, due to a variety of barriers including low remuneration and lack of a visible career path. There are several issues in Veterinary Nursing which may influence how long employees stay in the industry. While veterinarians are required to be registered in Aotearoa, it is not currently compulsory for veterinary nurses to be registered.  Furthermore, the industry reports an increasing impact of stress on its workforce due to the nature of the work and conflicts with customers. The industry has highlighted increasing concerns for the mental health and resilience of staff who face emotionally and mentally challenging responsibilities. 

This is our plan to address the vocational education and training opportunities that arose from our engagement, research and analysis. It includes real projects that we are committed to delivering, with most of these spanning across some or all Muka Tangata industries. Our Projects have replaced our previous “Roadmap Actions” and present a consolidated view of our mahi. Some of the previous roadmap actions have been completed or closed out following a review of our work programme and engagement with industry on the priority of these actions.