22/05/2026
This article is based on Small Animal numbers & Vets. It is MUCH worse in the Equine world. I don't know where this ends- doesn't look good.
Veterinary clinics are leaving six-figure positions vacant for more than a year as Australia’s chronic vet shortage spreads beyond regional communities into the nation’s biggest cities.
The Australian Veterinary Association’s workforce survey found that in regional areas, 44 per cent of vacancies took 12 months or longer to fill — if they were filled at all. Now the same problem is entrenching itself in major cities.
Dr Sam Haynes, owner of Sydney Animal Hospitals — a seven-clinic network — said he had never seen shortages this severe.
Two full-time vet positions at clinics in Sydney’s northwest have been advertised for more than a year, and a nurse role on the northern beaches has sat empty since 2024.
“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to recruit qualified veterinarians and experienced nurses, even for well-established clinics in Australia’s biggest cities,” Dr Haynes said.
General practice vets earn between $120,000 and $140,000 annually, with new graduates starting at around $80,000. Yet the salaries are failing to attract enough candidates, with workforce modelling suggesting there are currently only enough vets nationwide to meet roughly 60 per cent of demand.
“We’re a high profile, established network of veterinary hospitals yet we’re still finding it hard to attract staff,” Dr Haynes said.
“When clinics can’t fill roles, it places additional pressure on existing staff who are working incredibly hard to meet the needs of pet owners and their animals.”
Dr Haynes says addressing the shortage will require a combination of measures including increasing university training places, improving retention within the profession and streamlining pathways for qualified overseas veterinarians to work in Australia.
“Pet ownership has surged in Australia over the past decade and the veterinary workforce simply hasn’t kept pace,” he says.
Brisbane-based Dr Ben Schuster left clinical veterinary practice after 4.5 years due to emotional toll and burnout.
He has since built a career spanning pet insurance, veterinary marketing and the gaming industry — and says the move has delivered significantly better work-life balance.
Dr Schuster said the communication and people skills he developed as a vet allowed him to pivot careers without additional formal study, and that the move has given him significantly better work-life balance and more time with his young family.
He said he found the work rewarding, but the emotional toll – particularly around end-of-life care and euthanasia – became overwhelming.
Data from the Veterinary Registration Board shows there are 16,313 registered vets nationally as of June 2025, up from 11,418 a decade ago.
But surging pet ownership — now spanning 31.6 million animals across 73 per cent of Australian households — has outpaced supply, leaving clinics chronically short-staffed and existing vets buckling under the pressure.
Dr Haynes is calling for urgent action to address what will result in a national shortage.
“If we want to maintain access to care for millions of pets, we need to invest in growing the profession and make it easier for qualified vets from overseas to work here,” he said.
Dr Haynes said Sydney Animal Hospitals had introduced employee benefits to keep staff, including health insurance discounts, gym memberships and a secondment program enabling staff to work in the United Kingdom for up to two years.
