Veterinary Services Regulations 2025

These regulations may be cited as the Veterinary Services Regulations 2025.

These regulations come into operation on the day on which section 3 of the Veterinary Services Act 2023 comes into operation.

In these regulations—

Act means the Veterinary Services Act 2023.

Pursuant to the definition of corresponding law in section 3(1) of the Act, each of the following is recognised as a corresponding law under the Act:

the Veterinary Practice Act 2018 of the Australian Capital Territory;

the Veterinary Practice Act 2003 of New South Wales;

the Veterinarians Act 1994 of the Northern Territory;

the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1936 of Queensland;

the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1987 of Tasmania;

the Veterinary Practice Act 1997 of Victoria;

the Veterinary Practice Act 2021 of Western Australia.

The following are excluded from the ambit of the definition of veterinary service in section 3(1) of the Act:

the deworming of an animal other than by intranasal oesophageal tube;

the performance of the Mules operation on sheep;

the dehorning of cattle, sheep or goats if the animal is less than—

in the case of cattle where the dehorning is performed at the time of first yarding—12 months of age; or

in any other case—6 months of age;

the castration of cattle, sheep, pigs or goats if the animal is less than—

in the case of cattle where the castration is performed at the time of first yarding—12 months of age; or

in the case of pigs—21 days of age; or

in any other case—6 months of age;

the tail docking of lambs that are less than 6 months of age;

the treatment of an animal for ectoparasites;

the treatment of footrot in sheep or goats by foot‑paring or foot‑bathing;

the vaccination of livestock;

farriery or hoof trimming that does not involve entry into or beyond sensitive hoof structures, and the assessment of an animal for that purpose;

the desnooding, despurring, dubbing, beak trimming, beak treatment or toe trimming of day‑old poultry chicks;

the artificial insemination of cattle or pigs (other than surgical artificial insemination);

the diagnosis of pregnancy of an animal by external ultrasound or by testing of blood or milk (other than the diagnosis of pregnancy of a horse by ultrasound);

the diagnosis of pregnancy of cattle by rectal ultrasound or rectal examination;

rasping the teeth, or removing a loose tooth or deciduous tooth cap, of a horse using manual instruments;

the assessment of an animal in relation to—

non‑invasive manual physical therapy of the animal; or

the use of a therapeutic device on the animal in the course of non‑invasive physical therapy of the animal (other than extracorporeal shock wave therapy);

the performance of a faecal egg count.

For the purposes of sections 6(3) and 14(4)(a) of the Act, the South Australian Division of the Australian Veterinary Association is a prescribed peak body representing the veterinary profession in the State.

For the purposes of section 12 of the Act, a member of the Board must complete such training related to corporate governance as is determined by the Board and approved by the Minister.

The Board must keep records of the corporate governance training completed by Board members.

For the purposes of section 17(1) of the Act, the following functions are prescribed:

hearing and determining proceedings regarding medical fitness under Part 6 of the Act;

determining applications for registration on the general register or the specialist register under section 28 of the Act;

endorsing codes of conduct, professional standards and guidelines for the purposes of the Act;

endorsing the veterinary premises standard under section 40 of the Act.

A person—

who holds registration in New Zealand equivalent to general or specialist registration under the Act; and

who is registered, or has applied for registration, on the general or specialist register under the Act in accordance with the Trans‑Tasman mutual recognition principle as applying to occupations as set out in Part 3 of the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 of the Commonwealth; and

whose principal place of residence is not in this State, is exempt from the operation of sections 28(4)(c) and 32(2)(b) of the Act.

For the purposes of section 33(4) of the Act, the following forms of authorisation under corresponding laws are recognised as corresponding to registration on the specialist register under the Act:

In this regulation, words used in a description of a form of authorisation under a corresponding law have the meanings assigned by that law.

For the purposes of section 41(2)(b) of the Act, the individual nominated by an entity as the responsible person in respect of registered premises owned or occupied by the entity must be a veterinarian with primary registration whose principal place of residence is in this State.

Pursuant to section 49(2)(b) of the Act, section 49(1) does not apply in relation to the provision of veterinary services in the following circumstances:

the provision of veterinary services by an inspector appointed under the Livestock Act 1997 in the course of the inspector's duties;

the provision of veterinary services by a person pursuant to a licence under the Animal Welfare Act 1985;

the provision of veterinary services by a medical practitioner, dentist, physiotherapist or chiropractor under the supervision of a veterinarian;

the provision of veterinary services, under the supervision of a veterinarian, by a person who is undertaking a course of instruction to obtain a qualification approved or recognised by the Board for the purposes of registration under the Act;

the administration of an anaesthetic, drug or vaccine to an animal by a person in accordance with the directions of a veterinarian;

the dubbing or toe trimming of poultry, other than day‑old poultry chicks, in accordance with the directions of a veterinarian;

—

the scaling and polishing of the teeth of an animal; or

the administration of a substance to an animal (where such an act constitutes a veterinary service); or

the performance of a temperature, pulse or respiration test on an animal (where such an act constitutes a veterinary service); or

the collection of blood samples from an animal; or

the insertion of an intravenous catheter into an animal; or

wound care (including the dressing and bandaging of wounds) provided to an animal, under the supervision of a veterinarian, by a person in the ordinary course of their employment or as a part of practical training undertaken for the purposes of an educational or vocational course.

A veterinarian providing supervision for the purposes of subregulation (1) must comply with any requirements relating to such supervision set out in a code of conduct or professional standard prepared or endorsed by the Board under the Act.