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.

 

Is the AVPRC acting in the same role as 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 learn more about the difference between a regulatory organisation and a professional association.

 

What is Regulation?

Regulation works by setting and enforcing agreed minimum standards of practice and by restricting the use of specified protected titles to those who are registered. Most professions where there is a serious risk of public harm (e.g. doctors, nurses, vets) are regulated by the government to protect the public (and animals) against the risk of poor practice.

Statutory Regulation

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

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.   

 

Benefits of Regulation

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 high animal welfare standards are set and upheld at a local and national level, and ensuring 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. 

 

Legislation of Animal Healthcare in New Zealand

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.  

See Scopes of Practice for more on legislative limitations to practice.