1. Member research 2012 2012 Research Summary Presentation Presented by Graham Catt October 2013

2. Australian Veterinary Association

3. Membership Challenges

4. Research objectives

5. 3 Phase Methodology exploratory responses quantative online surveys focus groups RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

6. PRACTICE OWNER DETAILS Location% NSW & ACT 34 VIC & TAS 30 QLD 16 SA 8 WA 11 NT 1 Outside Australia 0 Gender Age% 31 – 4015 41 – 5046 51 – 6025 61 – 7014 71 or older1 Area Practice Located in Role in the Practice

7. New Grad details Gender Year Graduated Age% 22 or less 0 23-25 years 48 26-28 years 25 29-31 years 19 32 or more 9 Current Job Position Year Started Practicing Location% NSW & ACT 38 VIC & TAS 27 QLD 19 SA 5 WA 4 NT 1 Outside Australia 5

8. What’s keeping you awake at night?

9. New graduate transition; PROFESSIONAL CONCERNS wages & working conditions “The hours are really long and then you have to often work on-call hours on the weekends, and then if you want to do any continuing education, which you have to do, those are always at night or on the weekend outside of work hours – you are always giving up your free time.” “The new grad wage levels are not anywhere near where you expect them to be and trying to live off that when you have a gigantic debt level is not the easiest or the most fun thing.”

10. New graduate transition; PRACTICE & PERSONAL CONCERNS lack of confidence, “In my first week, I stomach-tubed an animal and made it bleed through the nose and I was devastated, the responsibility and pressure is immense.” “Dealing with the animals is ok because you always know that you can get help or look something up in a book, but dealing with clients is really challenging” pressure & lack of resources “Learning how to keep a cool composure is important because if your freak out then everyone around you is freaked out and you are the one that is supposed to be in control. Without a sense of control then clients have no confidence in you.” “When we leave uni we lose our access a lot of the journals, a big problem… at uni if you had a difficult or interesting case you could go to the journals, find the right study and read the whole article.”

11. poor public perceptions “I see the negative opinion held by the public towards the vet industry as a massively important issue within the practice since it demotivates our staff, and particularly junior staff, especially when customers are very unpleasant to them and make snide comments” “We all know of psychological issues that members of the vet community are facing, because of negative connotations form the public towards the industry. A lot of it is related to negative perceptions of vets and they (staff) feel relentlessly under attack.” Employers & Owners: public perceptions

12. “There is a lot of perception out there that vet fees are astronomical, or that we over service.” low awareness of the cost of pet healthcare “The public does not fully understand what goes on behind the reception desk. Any surgical procedure has surgeon, nurses, anaesthetist and machinery costs and the public does not know what is involved with these procedures, they just see us as being expensive.” “The public thinks we charge a lot of money and also earn a lot of money but this is not true.” Employers & Owners: public perceptions

13. Being a member

14. RECENT GRADUATES: MAIN REASON FOR BEING AN AVA MEMBER being part of the profession is the most important reason for membership “I don’t know if my AVA membership provides value for money, but I think you should support your industry and that’s what I’m doing by having a membership”

15. EMPLOYERS / OWNERS: MAIN REASON FOR BEING AN AVA MEMBER being part of the profession is the most important reason for membership 40% New Grads 17% New Grads 15% New Grads 12% New Grads

16. Expectations of The AVA

17. RECENT GRADUATES: EXPECTATIONS OF THE ROLE OF AVA advocacy and promotion to the public are the biggest areas of concern 30% 47%

18. OWNERS / EMPLOYERS: EXPECTATIONS OF THE ROLE OF AVA advocacy & promotion to the public 56% New Grads 35% New Grads 32% New Grads 45% New Grads 18% New Grads 40% New Grads

19. AUSAE STATE OF THE SECTOR: REASONS FOR JOINING Advocacy, reputation & promotion to the public “While only 6% of respondents’ rate advocacy services as a reason for joining, 93% rate the provision of these services by their own association as important or critical. Associations Matter: 2013 state of the sector report

20. OWNERS / EMPLOYERS: AVA PERFORMANCE IN CORE ROLES promotion & advocacy, more needed

21. New Grads: PERFORMANCE OF AVA IN DESIRED ROLES promotion & advocacy, more needed

22. Membership value and awareness

23. VALUE OF MEMBERSHIP 62% of recent graduates are not getting good value “At the moment, I am more than happy to pay my $350 because I think that’s about right, but certainly at $700 the pay does not go up enough to justify the increase in cost of membership three years out”

24. Even if my employer pays for my membership this doesn’t change the value I get. It’s not just a monetary discussion, it’s also about the lack of benefits. VALUE OF MEMBERSHIP “I think we need to be reminded what kinds of services are available because then we might use them”

25. it is not part of the culture here 81% OF EMPLOYERS DID NOT PAY AVA MEMBERSHIP FOR EMPLOYED VETS “Reason I don’t pay for their membership is because my staff doesn’t see the value in it, and they wouldn’t appreciate what I did for them”

26. the AVA

27. PERCEPTIONS OF AVA – AVA IS CONSIDERED TO BE… 5.9 imp6.9 imp

28. PERCEPTIONS OF AVA – AVA IS NOT CONSIDERED TO BE…

29. ASSISTANCE IN TRANSITION TO THE WORKFORCE 29% found AVA helpful

30. AVA is seen to be quiet & insular… PERCEPTIONS OF AVA IN PROMOTING & ADVOCATING …speak for, and less to the industry

31. Summary

32. Research conducted by Taverner Research July 2012 * All image rights owned by Shutterstock