Comments Off on What are you losing if you don’t put a Pay Rate in your job ads?
I recently did a very quick survey on social media in a veterinary group, to ask whether people find it frustrating when a pay rate or salary range is not given in a job ad – 100% of respondents said yes, they did find it frustrating.
Other job advertising companies have done large scale surveys, and found that salary is one of the top three drivers of attraction to a role, along with work-life balance and career development, across all industries. In fact, there’s a 36.9% increase in job applications when salary is shown on a job ad. 73% of candidates find it frustrating when salary isn’t included in a job ad and many candidates wouldn’t even consider applying for a job if the salary isn’t advertised.
You may have thought that making applicants apply for a job without knowing the remuneration might give you a bigger pool of applicants – however, besides that impression not being supported by surveys, it wastes time on both sides when someone who has got through interviews and been offered the vacancy then turns the job down.
Pay can be expressed as an hourly rate, or an annual rate, and it’s important to include detail in a job ad about the basis on which someone will be paid. Listing a Salary in your advert does NOT mean saying “salary above Award”, or “negotiable depending on experience”. It is understandable that some veterinary employers may prefer to advertise a range so they can assess through the recruitment process what salary best fits the candidate’s skill level, particularly with the current shortage of qualified veterinary staff. Regular evaluation of a new employee is a good way to adjust pay rate to closely match their skills, if necessary, and produce a good outcome for both employer and employee.
Why is there such a reluctance to list salaries or salary bands in veterinary job ads? Is a pay rate in general practice so totally dependent on the skill set of the vet that it’s impossible to estimate? Why is there no pay grading on the work that the applicant will be expected to do? And the situation is even worse for vet nurse and vet techs – 99.99% of job ads don’t even mention salary.
Start mentioning the pay rate, and you may be surprised at the interest in your next vacancy.
Author:
Wendy Nathan Kookaburra Veterinary Employment
This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.
Some of the most common questions that we get asked at Kookaburra Vets relate to Salary levels. We’d appreciate if you would help us collect some up to date information by completing this short anonymous survey, if you are a veterinarian currently working in Australia.
The results will be available on request from Kookaburra Vets, however, if you wish to provide us with your email address at the end of the survey, we will also email you a copy. Thank you for your help.
Comments Off on Veterinary Employment Figures – 2026
Job data collected and tracked by Kookaburra Veterinary Employment for permanent vacancies in Australia reveals an easing of the shortage of veterinarians relative to the numbers of vacancies available, over the last 2 years. The hardest year to fill a vet vacancy was 2023, and since then, clinics have gradually been receiving more applicants and filling their vacancies in less time.
The bad news for vets graduating from university this year is that less clinics will now consider training a new grad. One conclusion that could be drawn from this is that many clinics don’t see value in employing a new graduate or perceive new grads as a burden on their practice, and they will try to avoid it if there are vets with some experience available. Alternatively, it’s possible that practices are already weighted heavily towards less experienced associates.
Kookaburra Vet Employment also has a limited amount of data on veterinary nurse and support staff vacancies. Anecdotal reports from clinics have suggested that it is increasingly difficult to source veterinary nursing staff this year, and this is supported by the increasing number of vacancies being advertised.
Vets
As of 26th August 2026 there were 431 open vet vacancies advertised with Kookaburra. 78 jobs had been continuously advertised for over 8 months (18% ).
In the 3 months February, March, April 2026, 693 jobs were advertised.
51% of these were filled by 9th of May
8% were removed because the clinic either gave up looking or restructured their clinic staff to cope, or had a downturn in business
41% were still available as of 9th May
On 30th April 2023, 52 clinics had been advertising continuously for longer than 2 years without filling their vacancy, but by 26th August 2026, only 12 clinics had been continuously advertising for longer than 2 years without apparently filling their vacancy.
Vet Nurses
In March 2020 we had 236 vet nurse jobs listed. In April 2021 we had 337 vet nurse jobs listed. May 9th 2023 we had 316 vet nurse jobs listed. June 26th 2024 we had 236 vet nurse jobs listed. August 26th 2026 we had 344 vet nurse jobs listed
This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.
From 1 July 2026 employers must pay superannuation contributions on payday, with funds received by the employee’s super fund within seven business days.
At the moment, employers need to pay employees’ super contributions at least every 3 months and into the employee’s nominated account. Under the new rules, employers will need to pay employees’ super contributions at the same time they pay their salary or wages so that the contributions reach the employees’ nominated account within 7 business days. There are some exceptions, for example the first super contribution for a new employee will need to be made within 20 business days of the salary or wages being paid.
Super guarantee is calculated as 12% of QE (Qualifying Earnings), which includes OTE (Ordinary Time Earnings) and other payments. The ATO is the primary enforcement agency for the compulsory super guarantee. The ATO is responsible for implementing the new rules and has prepared a fact sheet about the changes.
As a reminder about who should be receiving Super payments from their employer, in Australia, Employers must pay Super (the Super Guarantee) for
employees 18 years+
employees under 18 years working more than 30 hours a week.
some contractors paid primarily for labour, even if they have an ABN
Temporary residents (eg. working holiday makers) are also eligible for superannuation.
For more information about Superannuation in Australia, see our previous article published in December 2025 – Superannuation – Australia.
This information includes the views and opinions of Kookaburra Veterinary Employment and is of a general nature only. Factual information is believed to be correct at the time of writing, however, should not be relied upon and any person should confirm details with the relevant authorities and through their own research prior to acting on any of the suggestions in this article.
In very good condition.
