Page 3564 - Week 09 - Thursday, 23 August 2018
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and reputation; displacement of the Legislation Act 2001; Henry VIII clause; and notification for the veterinary practice code of conduct instrument. All comments have been addressed for the revised explanatory statement and the subsequent amendments to the bill. I now present a revised explanatory statement.
Madam Assistant Speaker, extensive consultation on the bill was carried out with the veterinary profession, stakeholders and the community between October and December last year. The consultation spanned seven weeks, providing the profession and community with detailed information on the bill via the current Veterinary Surgeons Board’s website, a media release and a face-to-face consultation session on 9 November 2017.
The profession and community were invited to send comments via email or post on the proposed bill to Transport Canberra and City Services for consideration. At the time public consultation commenced, the ACT had 370 registered veterinary surgeons and all were contacted to comment on the bill. Significant consultation also occurred with the Human Rights Commission’s Health Services Commissioner. As currently occurs in the ACT, the Health Services Commissioner jointly considers all complaints about veterinary surgeons the board receives.
The bill retains these legislative provisions but has improved their clarity. The commissioner’s role is to help ensure the regulatory body responsible for administering the legislation is abiding by human rights principles. The consultation provided key stakeholders, the public and the veterinary profession with the opportunity to provide input on the bill and matters affecting the profession. The findings from this consultation helped inform and shape the final proposed bill we are debating here today.
Some key outcomes of the consultation were: the ACT government received 50 written comments from veterinary surgeons, including one from the commonwealth government’s Chief Veterinary Officer and eight veterinary professionals. The Health Services Commissioner also attended the face-to-face consultation session.
The profession supported the government’s efforts to harmonise the veterinary profession’s legislative models and the New South Wales legislation being an effective legislative framework to base the ACT’s legislation on. The profession profoundly supported the adoption of national recognition of veterinary registrations. I would like to thank everyone who provided the government with comments on the bill. Your participation has helped ensure that the bill will operate in line with the expectations and needs of the public and the profession.
The main comments received through the consultation related to the composition of the board, particularly around the proposed president not being a registered veterinary professional, and the reduced number of veterinary professionals on the board.
At the time of the consultation, the ACT government proposed a regulatory board with six members, with the option of a seventh if identified as necessary, and a non-veterinary practitioner president. A non-veterinary president was proposed to
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