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2020 Edition Printed Directory

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The 2020 Printed version of the Vet Suppliers Directory is now arriving at vet practices in the mail, during October and November.

This is an A to Z directory of veterinary specific products and services – if you didn’t receive your Free copy, phone Paddy on 02 6650 9092.

Access to the very best Referral services is improving for all practices across Australia – make sure you keep the Directory as a handy guide to available referral services and the facilities that they offer, as well as for contact details of a wide range of other veterinary suppliers.

2020 Directory
14/10/2019 |

2019 Salary Survey Results – Part 1

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Kookaburra_Logo_stackedThank you to all the vets who participated in this year’s Salary Survey. There was a total of 595 respondents, compared to 336 in 2017.

Results have been published in 4 separate reports, of which this is the first:

  1. Pay Rates compared by practice type, location, experience level, numbers of years graduated, corporate vs non-corporate, and by job classification (full time, part time, locums, and contractors)
  2. Gender Differences
  3. Out of Hours and Extras
  4. Happiness and Future Plans

Minimum pay rates and conditions are set in the Animal Care and Veterinary Services Award 2010, which you can find using Google, or at https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/documents/modern_awards/award/ma000118/default.htm

Methodology

The pool of vets was contacted by direct emailing the main clinic email for all the clinics in Australia in the Kookaburra database (1,909 clinics), direct emailing all the vets currently registered as job seekers with Kookaburra ( approximately 143), and by including advertising banners with a direct link to the survey on the Australian pages of the websites www.kookaburravets.com and www.vetsuppliersdirectory.com.au , and on all the correspondence sent out from Kookaburra during the survey period. We also asked the HR departments of the major Australian corporates to assist by distributing the link to the survey to their veterinary associates. In addition, it was posted on Facebook on two of the Australian Veterinarian network closed group pages (briefly, as it was considered to be ‘advertising’ and was deleted by admin).

The survey was open from 15th July to 20th August 2019. It was hosted on Survey Monkey and analysis of results was carried out in Survey Monkey and using Microsoft Excel Office 365. The survey was anonymous, and no IP data was collected. There was a total of 16 questions.

For a Key to the box and whisker plots used, please see the Appendix at the bottom of this document

To download this Report as a printable pdf please click here
https://www.vetsuppliersdirectory.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Survey-Results-2019-Part-1.pdf

Pay Rate All Practice Types

Pay vs Experience Level with scale

We wondered whether salary would be better correlated with another gauge of competence besides the numbers of years since graduation, so we asked respondents to self-assess their Technical Experience level according to the following scale, increasing in competence from 1 to 9, and then also including an option for non-clinical roles:

  1. Has broad theoretical knowledge, requires a more experienced vet to be available for discussion for consults/medicine, and guidance for surgery most of the time
  2. Confident for consults, requires guidance for surgery/procedures most of the time
  3. Confident for consults and routine surgery and seeks guidance for new procedures
  4. Confident for consults and routine surgery, able to work sole charge regularly
  5. Confident for consults, surgery, sole charge, and after hours emergencies
  6. Has or is working towards post graduate qualification in medicine, or other non-surgical qualification
  7. Has or is working towards post graduate qualification in surgery or ECC
  8. Has additional qualifications, supervises and teaches less experienced vets
  9. Has or is working towards specialist qualification
  1. Experienced in non-clinical / Industry roles

 

Years Graduated vs Experience Level with heading

Pay vs Experience Level

General Practice types vs years of experience with scale

Hourly Pay Histogram ft pt

Annualised Pay Histogram FT PT

Actual Pay Histogram FT PT

Hours Worked

Pay vs Hours worked with linear trend-line

Pay vs State2

Pay vs Location Category2

* Respondents gave the postcode for their current job. This was categorised according to the Australian Tax Office region and postcode definitions for the 2016-2017 tax year.

Locums

For data on Locums, we combined the data for vets classified as Casual with Self Employed Contractors. There was a total of 98 respondents in these 2 categories.

Locum Rates - vs Experience level

  1. Has broad theoretical knowledge, requires a more experienced vet to be available for discussion for consults/medicine, and guidance for surgery most of the time
  2. Confident for consults, requires guidance for surgery/procedures most of the time
  3. Confident for consults and routine surgery and seeks guidance for new procedures
  4. Confident for consults and routine surgery, able to work sole charge regularly
  5. Confident for consults, surgery, sole charge, and after hours emergencies
  6. Has or is working towards post graduate qualification in medicine, or other non-surgical qualification
  7. Has or is working towards post graduate qualification in surgery or ECC
  8. Has additional qualifications, supervises and teaches less experienced vets
  9. Has or is working towards specialist qualification
  10. Experienced in non-clinical / Industry roles

 

Locum Rates - Casual vs Contractor

Locum Rates - Corporate vs Non-Corporate1

 

Corporate Practices

Corporate vs non-corporate - small animal vs mixed practice1

Corporate Happiness

Corporate_practice_vs_year_graduated

Appendix

Key to Box Whisker plots

© Copyright Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

2nd September 2019

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04/09/2019 |

2019 Salary Survey Results – Part 2 – Gender Differences

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We decided to include a question on gender in this year’s survey. 594 vets chose to answer either male or female. There was no intent to offend anyone by not including an option for a gender other than male or female; the question was optional and we were interested in whether pay rates vary specifically according to whether someone is male or female. When looking at the data, we excluded practice owners/partners, on the assumption that they wouldn’t show gender bias for or against themselves – although this may not actually be true.

The results show a difference of about $4 an hour in the median hourly rate for full time vets between males and females, which is 10%, and means a difference in the calculated annualised salary of $7,904. This difference persists in most categories of both experience, and number of years since graduation.

To download this Report as a printable pdf please click here
https://www.vetsuppliersdirectory.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Salary-Survey-2019-part-2-Gender-difference.pdf

Gender vs Job classification (2)

Gender vs Job Classification

Gender vs Experience - Full Time only

Gender vs Experience level

* Key to Self-Assessed Experience Level

  1. Has broad theoretical knowledge, requires a more experienced vet to be available for discussion for consults/medicine, and guidance for surgery most of the time
  2. Confident for consults, requires guidance for surgery/procedures most of the time
  3. Confident for consults and routine surgery and seeks guidance for new procedures
  4. Confident for consults and routine surgery, able to work sole charge regularly
  5. Confident for consults, surgery, sole charge, and after hours emergencies
  6. Has or is working towards post graduate qualification in medicine, or other non-surgical qualification
  7. Has or is working towards post graduate qualification in surgery or ECC
  8. Has additional qualifications, supervises and teaches less experienced vets
  9. Has or is working towards specialist qualification
  10. Experienced in non-clinical / Industry roles

 

© Copyright Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

2nd September 2019

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04/09/2019 |

2019 Salary Survey Results – Part 3 – On Call & Salary Extras

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1.     On Call / After Hours Payments

In the 2017 Kookaburra Salary Survey, respondents said that they would be interested to know how vets were being paid or compensated for on call work / after hours duties, and for being ‘on call’.

To download this Report as a printable pdf please click here https://www.vetsuppliersdirectory.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Salary-Survey-2019-part-3-OOH-and-Extras.pdf

Out of Hours compensation types

% Professional Fees

69 % of respondents who told us what percentage of professional fees for after hour work they received (127 vets) got 50%. 10% of respondents got 100%. The rest varied from 10% through to 90%. There was a range of how this was calculated – some commented that this was not including GST. Others had a sliding scale depending on the type of service eg.

  • 46% surgery/consult/bandaging, 23% anaesthetics, fluids.
  • 75% consult fee, 100% procedure costs, 0% medications.
  • 100% of professional fee. This includes consult/call out fee and surgery fee.  Does not include radiology, anaesthesia, fluid therapy, hospitalisation.
  • 50 % of exam fee and professional fee only. No other percentage for professional fees- eg xrays fluids etc
  • 50% of professional fees (consult, X-ray, surgery, hospitalisation)

Only one person commented that they didn’t get paid until the client had paid.

Retainer

Retainer value

The value of a Retainer paid for after hours work varied considerably. Some respondents commented that they ‘lost’ the retainer once they attended a call, if they were receiving additional payment or a % of fees for the call-out. The Award allowance is currently $43.64 for each 24 hour period on call.

Hourly Rate

Some vets received an hourly rate for out of hours work – possibly considering this work as ‘overtime’. The Award does actually now include guidelines for paying overtime, but it’s unclear when these rates should be applied and what the difference between out of hours calls and overtime is. Examples of comments included:

  • 20% loading;
  • 30% loading;
  • 15% loading on base hourly rate for overnight, Friday nights. 1.5x on Saturday and Sunday. 2x on public holidays.
  • Double time
  • ‘same rate even if after hours’
  • Government – ‘ after hours / overtime pays 1.5 -2x normal Rate’

Fee Per Call

12% of respondents received a fee per call-out. This probably varies according to the after hours consultation fee set by the practice.

16 vets gave an indication of the fee they received, and it varied from $50 to $500.

($50 ,  $60 ,  $66 ,  $100 ,  $120 ,  $125 ,  $130 ,  $140 ,  $146 ,  $150 ,  $181 ,  $185 ,  $200 ,  $215 ,  $375 ,  $500 )

Unpaid / Part of Salary

7% of respondents (14 vets) were unpaid for after hours work, or had no additional compensation because it was considered ‘part of their salary’ , ‘expected as part of the job’, ‘reasonable unpaid overtime’. We didn’t collect information about the amount of after hours work performed by these vets.

2.     Salary Package Extras

We asked what kind of extras do vets receive in their salary package – respondents could choose multiple options from a preset list, and could also add their own comments. 452 vets responded.

Salary Package Extras2

There was no statistical difference between the extras received by vets working in corporate practices, and vets working in non-corporate practices, apart from Vehicle or vehicle costs – only 11.54% of respondents working in corporate practices received vehicle benefits compared to 24.07 % of respondents working in non-corporate practices.

When comparing vets classified as Full Time compared to Part Time, vets working in a full time vacancy were more likely to receive Board registration, AVA membership, and Vehicle costs.

Female Vets were more likely to receive Parental leave (11.11%) compared to Male Vets (5.08%)

We asked for extra information, and for information about any other types of benefits received, and this included the following:

  • Some vets receive a monetary allowance per year, to be spent on CE or other appropriate bills, ranging from $1000 to $2000 per year
  • Massage/acupuncture
  • VIN membership – this was commonly mentioned
  • CVE membership
  • AVA interest group memberships (ASAVA, EVA etc )
  • VDA membership
  • VECCS membership (Vet Emergency & Critical Care Society), Vetstream,
  • Beer
  • Christmas bonus
  • Extra Superannuation (above 9.5%) and option for salary sacrifice
  • Mobile phone or phone allowance
  • Extra holiday (in addition to 4 weeks standard leave)
  • Parking discount, Tollway tag
  • Pet Insurance, pet health care plan
  • Clothing allowance
  • Insurances – Income Protection, Professional Indemnity,
  • Radiation License
  • Rostered days off
  • Sponsored Visa

© Copyright Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

2nd September 2019

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04/09/2019 |

2019 Salary Survey Results – Part 4 – Happiness

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HAPPINESS

This year, the veterinary shortage has continued to bite in Australia and is now affecting practices in the cities as well as rural and regional areas. The results of the Lincoln Institute survey in Australia has been in the news ( Link to SBS report) , and Kookaburra Vet Employment has been approached by multiple news outlets for interviews and comments ( link to ABC Sunshine Coast article )

A BVA (British Veterinary Association) and University of Exeter study in the UK released late in 2018 found that 37% of vets were actively thinking about leaving the profession (1,250 vets surveyed ). 59% of vets said they were either very stressed or somewhat stressed at work. A smaller Kookaburra Vet Employment survey from 2017 of just 336 vets showed that 17% of associates thought they would have left the profession in the next 5 years.

The suicide rate of vets in Australia has been found to be 4 times higher than the general population – that’s one vet every 12 weeks.

We included a question about future plans, and also a standardised question about happiness in this 2019 survey.

To download this Report as a printable pdf please click https://www.vetsuppliersdirectory.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Salary-Survey-2019-part-4-Happiness.pdf

5 Years' time

Happiness

Comparing Various Subsets for Happiness

Interesting Statistically Significant differences (95% confidence level (p = .05), and >30 responses in each group)

  • 30.81% of vets in non-corporate practices were ‘Very Happy’, compared to only 16.75% of vets in corporate practices
  • 11.11% of vets in non-corporate practices were ‘Neither happy nor unhappy’, compared to 18.85% of vets in corporate practices
  • 33.3% of male vets were ‘Very Happy’, compared to 23.9% of female vets
  • 53.06% of Practice Owners were ‘Very Happy’ compared to only 21.06% of non – practice owners.

© Copyright Kookaburra Veterinary Employment

2nd September 2019

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04/09/2019 |
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