Telehealth and mobile services standards

I support the introduction of clear licensing frameworks and standards for telehealth and mobile veterinary services, provided the standards are risk-proportionate and enable responsible remote consultations and prescribing within an appropriate veterinarian-client-patient relationship.

This will improve access to care, particularly in regional and remote areas, and support more sustainable workloads for veterinary teams.

Registration and scope of practice for veterinary nurses and technologists

I welcome the formal registration of veterinary nurses and technologists with protected titles and clearly defined scopes of practice.

Appropriate delegation pathways will increase clinic capacity and allow nurses to contribute more effectively to client education and wellness support under veterinary oversight, while freeing veterinarians to focus on complex clinical work.

Risk-based and enabling regulation aligned with national frameworks

I encourage the development of standards and codes that are enabling and risk-based, and that align with national regulatory frameworks, including APVMA processes.

This approach will avoid unnecessary duplication while supporting professional judgment, evidence-informed practice, and high standards of animal welfare and public trust.

Supporting innovation and technology-enabled care

As veterinary medicine continues to evolve, new technologies - including remote monitoring, wearable devices, and data-sharing platforms - are increasingly available to support clinical decision-making.

It would be valuable for the new regulatory framework to enable veterinarians to responsibly use these technologies within telehealth and mobile service models, provided appropriate standards for data quality, privacy, and the veterinarian-client-patient relationship are maintained.

This would help support more informed, flexible, and accessible models of care across NSW.