The establishment of the Australian Veterinary Reserve (AVR) is one of the major recommendations of the Review of Rural Veterinary Services and is a significant milestone in realising the potential of our national veterinary resource.

Launched at the Australian Veterinary Association's conference on 3 May 2004, the AVR involves 100 non-government veterinarians in government programs initially by providing paid training in national emergency animal disease preparedness.

The program is open to all non-government vets and will complement existing government resources, developing business diversity for rural practitioners and providing opportunities for better integration of veterinary services.

Selection for the AVR

The Australian Government distributed brochures to all registered veterinarians in Australia and also called for applications via the Australian Veterinary Journal. There was a very positive response and the closing date for applications was extended to 16 August 2004.

The first 20 veterinarians were selected and completed the first round of training in November 2004. Selection of a further 81 veterinarians was made in January 2005 and these applicants will be trained next year.

Training

Members of the AVR undertake two separate training courses. The first course includes a one day equivalent CD Rom based program and a three day face-to-face workshop. The course trains AVR members to operate as Field Surveillance Veterinarians during an emergency disease outbreak.

The second course is a two day face-to-face workshop which focuses on developing AVR members' skills to work as surveillance/tracing officers in Local Disease Control Centres during an outbreak.

Further Information

For further information about AVR training please email trainingsupport@animalhealthaustralia.com.au

Please visit this webpage again shortly, as updated information and news will be added regularly.

AVR Extranets - for approved users only

To access the AVR Members' List Extranet please click here.

Page Updated: 20 September 2005