ABOUT
REGULATION
What is the role of the AVPRC ?
The Allied Veterinary Professional Regulatory Council (AVPRC) is a voluntary regulatory body for veterinary nurses, technicians and some allied veterinary professionals (AVPs). It has been acting in this role since 2014 offering a voluntary regulation scheme for those who wish to demonstrate their commitment to professionalism.
How does the AVPRC differ from NZVNA?
The role of the AVPRC as a regulatory body is very different than the New Zealand Veterinary Nursing Association, a membership, representative body for veterinary nurses in New Zealand. The two organisations are complementary but hold very different roles. It is a conflict of interest for a representative body to act in a regulatory role, hence why they need to be separate entities.
Click here to download a summary document showing the difference between AVPRC and NZVNA.
-
A regulatory body is a type of professional association that is typically regulated by law and is primarily concerned with the public so it is free of political governance and influence. Regulatory bodies focus on standard setting, compliance (auditing), and protecting the public/animal welfare.
The Allied Veterinary Professional Regulatory Council (AVPRC) is a voluntary regulatory body, the only regulatory body for allied veterinary professionals in New Zealand. It acts in a role similar to the Veterinary Council of New Zealand (VCNZ) with an aim to amalgamate with the VCNZ once the Veterinarians Act has been changed to reflect statutory regulation of AVPs.
The AVPRC is a Charitable Trust, empowering trust in the veterinary sector by safeguarding animal welfare and the public interest through regulation and standard setting for veterinary nurses, technicians, and allied animal healthcare practitioners.
-
A professional association is a representative organisation, an entity dedicated to promoting and advocating for the specific profession, fostering the professional development of individuals within the field, and offering services that benefit the community. It manages the knowledge and resources essential for the advancement of the profession, all while balancing the needs of its members, the wider sector, and the general public.
The New Zealand Veterinary Association is an example of a representative association for veterinarians in New Zealand.
Here are some representative organisations for allied veterinary professionals in New Zealand:
-
Beyond NZVNA there are other professional associations that represent allied professionals in New Zealand including:
Large Animal Veterinary Technicians Group
What is Regulation?
Regulation serves to set and enforce minimum practicing standards including education requirements, registration requirements. Regulation is put in place when a profession cannot easily achieve policy/practicing objectives without legislated intervention. Usually, these objectives relate to ensuring public safety from malpractice or people who misrepresent themselves as professionals.
-
Most healthcare professions where there is a serious risk of public harm (e.g. doctors, nurses, veterinarians) are regulated by law but veterinary nurses and other allied professionals do not yet have legislated regulation. The veterinary sector must consider the risk of public harm, and also the risk of poor animal welfare outcomes from unregulated staff (under the Animal Welfare Act 1999). To protect the public, and animals, all veterinary professionals should be regulated.
For professions working toward legislated regulation, voluntary regulation provides a transitional step. Voluntary regulation works by setting agreed minimum standards of education, ethics, conduct, and fitness to practice. These are enforced these through registration, meeting fitness to practice requirements, and restricting the use of specified protected titles to those who are registered. Voluntary regulation is available for veterinary nurses and technicians under the Allied Veterinary Professional Regulatory Council (AVPRC).
-
Statutory regulation refers to a legal mandate that requires a profession to be regulated in order to practice. Typically this means there is a government mandated organisation that maintains a register of individuals who meet the required standards set for working in the profession including standards of education, training, professional skills, conduct, and fitness to practice. The process of being regulated is known as being registered to practice but it can also be known as being licenced, or certified.
With statutory regulation there are usually legal restrictions for who can work, and under what conditions. In healthcare industries, statutory regulation exists to protect patient safety and public health.
In the veterinary industry in New Zealand, the Veterinarians Act is the legislative guideline and the Veterinary Council of New Zealand (VCNZ) is the mandated organisation that regulates veterinarians under the Veterinarians Act.
Allied veterinary professionals (AVPs) such as veterinary nurses and technicians are not yet regulated under the law; they are not covered by the Veterinarians Act but work is being done by the VCNZ to change this.
-
Voluntary regulation is when a there is a regulatory scheme available for professionals, where the profession sets its own standards of professionalism, training, and conduct to guide and support professionalism. Under a voluntary regulation scheme, registration is not compulsory to be able to legally work.
Voluntary regulation is a community-led process. It is a common first step that a profession takes to show dedication, professionalism, and support for the idea of regulation as a way to protect the profession from lay people who might misrepresent themselves as qualified professionals and risk diminishing the credibility of the profession (not to mention risking public health and animal welfare).
The AVPRC is a voluntary regulatory body. Like veterinary nurses and technicians in the UK, North America, Australia, and other countries, voluntary regulation is an important and powerful process for improving professionalism and is usually the first step toward a formalised statutory regulation for a profession.
-
Voluntary regulation is am important and influential step on the pathway toward statutory regulation. There are many benefits to regulation:
Regulation benefits all allied veterinary professionals, protecting professional titles and preventing laypeople from misrepresenting themselves as if they were qualified. It helps demonstrate dedication to professionalism, and helps to increase awareness of the essential role of allied veterinary professionals in the veterinary healthcare team.
Regulation benefits the veterinary sector, demonstrating that people working in the field are qualified professionals, working to a set standard, and accountable for their professional conduct. It protects the sector's reputation and adds value for veterinary services. It also helps ensure a sustainable workforce where responsibility and workload are spread more evenly among qualified veterinary professionals in the animal healthcare team.
Regulation protects veterinary patients, by helping to ensure all veterinary professionals are educated in high animal welfare standards and contemporary animal welfare science. By acting as advocates of animal welfare, regulated AVPs can help ensure high welfare standards are set and upheld at a local and national level, and ensure that veterinary patients are cared for only by qualified professionals working to a set standard.
Regulation protects the consumer, helping the public to ensure they are getting the professional services they are paying for.
Regulation protects public health against emerging diseases, exposure to drugs and radiation, antimicrobial resistance, food-borne illness, and zoonotic infections.
Regulation protects the agricultural exports industry and subsequently the NZ economy by ensuring that practitioners working on production animals are fully regulated, professional, competent, and adhering to high animal welfare standards.
The work toward statutory regulation is ongoing and relies on industry support, and public awareness of the risks of not being regulated.
How are veterinarians regulated?
In New Zealand, statutory regulation of veterinarians is administered by the Veterinary Council of New Zealand through the legislative power of the Veterinarians Act.
The Veterinarians Act does not include guidelines of practice for non-veterinarians such as allied veterinary professionals or any other animal healthcare workers; however, there are some legislated guidelines for non-veterinarians listed in the Animal Welfare Act and its amendments.