Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons – Draft for Public Consultation

Give your feedback on the new Draft Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons.

A revised Draft Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons has been prepared for review and feedback from the public and the profession.

You will find the draft Code of Conduct here

The basic principles of professional conduct for a veterinary surgeon are to :

  • Protect animal health, safety and welfare
  • Maintain high professional standards, conduct and competency
  • Promote public trust in the profession

The new Draft Code of Conduct was prepared by a working group of the Veterinary Surgeons Board of South Australia comprised of both consumers and providers of veterinary services.

As part of its evaluations, the working group reviewed the current South Australian Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons, comparable Codes of Conduct for the veterinary profession in other Australian and overseas jurisdictions, as well as Codes of Conduct prepared by the South Australian Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner (HCSCC) and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

The public and profession are encouraged to provide feedback on the Draft Code of Conduct. Please submit your feedback by 31 December 2022 to codeandstandardsreview@vsb.sa.gov.au.

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Correspondence Policy

We recommend using our postal address if your correspondence is sensitive and/or includes hard copy or confidential attachments (such as photos or documents). Please ensure you include a return postal address.

Our approach
When we perform our work, we aim to be fair, impartial, consistent, respectful, courteous.

How you can help us
To allow us to perform our work effectively and efficiently, we expect that you will familiarise yourself with our correspondence policy, give us accurate and complete information, treat us with respect and courtesy.

We aim to respond to correspondence, where required, within 20 working days of receipt.

Sometimes the matters raised in correspondence are complex and require detailed investigation in which case our response time will be longer.

There may be occasions where the issues you raise are outside our responsibilities. In this case we will refer you to the appropriate organisation or government department/agency. We encourage you to check to see if your issue is within our jurisdiction before you correspond with us. For example, if your enquiry relates to the ability of a veterinary surgeon to obtain, possess, prescribe or dispense Schedule 4 drugs, please direct your enquiry to the Office of the Chief Pharmacist: SAPharmacy@health.sa.gov.au. If your enquiry relates to the ability of a veterinary surgeon to obtain, possess, prescribe or dispense Schedule 8 drugs, please direct your enquiry to SA Health: HealthDrugsofDependenceUnit@sa.gov.au

We do not provide legal advice or personal advisory services to members of the community, veterinary services providers or veterinary surgeons.

We will only respond to items where we are the primary recipient. We will not respond to correspondence where we have been included as a carbon copy.

We will delete unsolicited advertisements without response.

We will not respond to correspondence containing offensive language or content.

We will forward any correspondence containing threatening content or advocating illegal activities to South Australia Police.

Your correspondence, once received, will become an official record of the Veterinary Surgeons Board of South Australia.