Privacy Policy

The Veterinary Surgeons Board of South Australia (VSBSA) is committed to the responsible handling of personal information and to protecting an individual’s right to privacy.

  • The VSBSA only collects personal information that is necessary to fulfil its functions under the Veterinary Practice Act 2003 (VP Act). This information is collected by lawful and fair means, with consent and is used only for a lawful purpose.
  • Persons engaged or formerly engaged in the administration of the VP Act are prohibited from divulging or communicating personal information obtained (whether by that person or otherwise) in the course of official duties except:
    • as required or authorised by or under the VP Act or any other Act or law
    • with the consent of the person to whom the information relates
    • in connection with the administration of the VP Act or the repealed VP Act
    • to an authority with responsibility for administering a corresponding law in connection with the administration of that law
    • to an authority or other body in connection with the establishment or administration of a national database envisaged by section 75 of the VP Act
  • The VSBSA takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that personal information it holds is kept secure and protected from unauthorised access.

Working to ensure those in the profession achieve and maintain high professional standards of competence and conduct in their provision of veterinary treatment.

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.