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In Part One of this series, we explored why veterinary wages are becoming increasingly complex – from CPI misunderstandings and award wage structures, through to the growing influence of the locum market and internal wage compression.
For many clinics, these pressures are no longer theoretical. They are already playing out in real time in pay discussions, team expectations, and the financial performance of the business.
Understanding the problem is the first step. The next step is knowing how to manage it.
Once wage pressure starts building in a clinic, it rarely resolves without intervention. Without structure, salary decisions tend to become reactive, often driven by urgency, retention concerns or external market comparisons.
Over time, this is what leads to:
The clinics navigating this successfully are not avoiding wage discussions; they are approaching them with structure.
It’s important for clinic owners to recognise that it’s 2026 and staff do discuss wages.
In fact, employees have the legal right to discuss their pay with colleagues. Attempting to prevent these conversations is not only unrealistic but can also breach workplace protections.
During a recent consulting conversation, a clinic owner commented: “Well, they shouldn’t be discussing wages.” That statement is often a signal of a deeper issue.
In that same clinic, wage discussions had revealed a significant disparity. Some nurses who had repeatedly requested pay increases were earning more than $7 per hour higher than colleagues performing the exact same role.
The difference was not based on competency, performance or responsibility; it was simply the result of who had pushed hardest.
This is a common pattern in clinics without structured pay frameworks.
The “squeaky wheel” approach to pay rises develops, in which those who advocate most strongly are rewarded, while others remain behind despite equal contributions.
Over time, this erodes trust and creates tension within teams.
Most clinic owners genuinely want to support their teams and retain good staff. However, without a structured approach, wage negotiations can quickly become reactive.
A common scenario:
A senior team member approaches leadership and indicates they are considering leaving unless they receive a significant pay increase, for example, $10 per hour.
In the moment, agreeing can feel like the safest option, but these decisions rarely occur in isolation.
Owners must consider:
What begins as a single retention decision can quickly escalate into broader wage inflation across the entire workforce.
Consider another typical situation.
A clinic employs 9 veterinary nurses and 3 receptionists, with nursing wages currently ranging from $30 to $33 per hour. Only a small number hold formal qualifications, while several others have developed their skills through experience and perform similar day-to-day responsibilities.
The clinic hires an experienced nurse at $34.50 per hour to remain competitive in the market. Shortly after, that rate becomes known across the team.
The response is predictable. The nursing team approaches leadership requesting equal pay, and to maintain fairness and avoid conflict, the clinic increases all nurses ‘ pay to $34.50 per hour.
At first glance, this appears to be the simplest and most equitable solution. However, it creates several challenges:
The most significant consequence of the above situation is financial.
If those 9 nurses are full-time, working approximately 38 hours per week:
Once penalty rates, superannuation and on-costs are included, the total increase can realistically reach: $75,000–$100,000 per year
This is how small, well-intentioned decisions can quietly become substantial financial pressure on a clinic.
The most effective clinics take a different approach and, rather than relying on negotiation or tenure, implement structured competency frameworks across all roles.
This framework requires that each position, whether receptionist, veterinary nurse, veterinarian or practice manager, has clearly defined:
It creates a transparent system where salary increases are linked to:
– not simply time in the role or willingness to negotiate.
Competency frameworks do more than control wage growth, they fundamentally shift how leadership operates within a clinic.
The frameworks allow leaders to:
They move salary discussions away from emotion and towards structure.
When implemented well, structured pay systems also shape team culture.
When employees see that additional responsibility is recognised, growth is rewarded, and contribution matters, they are far more likely to engage with their development and take ownership of their role within the clinic.
Without that structure, the opposite tends to occur. If team members taking on additional responsibilities receive no recognition, motivation declines, and engagement weakens.
Another critical, but often overlooked, strategy is timing.
Many clinics conduct salary reviews at the same time as CPI or award wage announcements in July. This unintentionally frames salary discussions around external increases, rather than individual performance.
A more effective approach is to:
This sequence ensures that salary decisions remain performance-driven, financially informed and strategically aligned
Just as importantly, implementing structured annual or bi-annual performance review cycles creates consistency and removes the need for ad hoc salary discussions throughout the year.
Without this structure, clinics can find themselves in a pattern where wages are increased reactively – often in response to individual requests, market pressure or retention concerns – rather than through a consistent and fair process.
Over time, this leads to inconsistent pay decisions, internal disparities and ongoing upward pressure on wages without clear justification.
Unlike many other operational decisions within a clinic, salary increases are not easily reversed. Once implemented, they typically cannot be reduced without formal performance management processes or redundancy — both of which are time-consuming, commercially risky and can have a significant negative impact on team culture.
For this reason, structured performance and salary review cycles are not just a “nice to have”, they are a critical control mechanism.
They allow clinic owners to:
Importantly, this structure does not mean that clinic owners cannot recognise and reward high performance throughout the year. Mid-cycle pay increases, bonuses or role adjustments can still be appropriate, particularly where team members are consistently exceeding expectations, taking on additional responsibility or contributing to leadership, training or workflow improvements
The key difference is that these decisions are still anchored within pre-defined frameworks and competencies, rather than being purely reactive or negotiation driven.
In doing so, clinics maintain flexibility while still protecting fairness, consistency and long-term sustainability. Ultimately, this allows leaders to shift from continuously responding to wage pressure to actively managing it.
Base salary is only one component of a competitive employment offering and many clinics are strengthening retention through:
Incentive programs are also becoming increasingly common. In one recent example, a clinic introduced a revenue-based incentive program in which a portion of quarterly performance was distributed among a small group of current and future leaders, including a head receptionist, senior nurse and a mid-career veterinarian identified as a future successor
The result was a stronger engagement with business performance, improved accountability for KPIs, increased productivity, and a greater sense of shared ownership across the team
As the veterinary workforce continues to evolve, wage discussions will remain a central challenge. The clinics that navigate this successfully will be those that move beyond reactive decision-making and instead build structured, transparent and performance-based compensation systems.
When wage growth is linked to competencies, contribution and business performance, clinics create environments where both people and businesses can grow together.
Veterinary wage discussions do not need to become chaotic and clinics that manage compensation effectively tend to:
Building fair, sustainable wage structures can be challenging in busy veterinary environments. Unlock Veterinary Consulting works with independent clinics to design practical systems and training for:
Learn more at www.unlockveterinaryconsulting.com.au
This post originally appeared on the Unlock Veterinary Consulting Blog: Understanding Veterinary Wage Growth 15/3/26
Lauren Chalwell is a veterinary operations leader, consultant, and founder dedicated to strengthening independent clinics across Australia and New Zealand. With a career spanning clinical nursing, multi-site operations leadership, and large-scale system and workflow implementation, she brings practical, in-clinic insight to every project. Lauren is the founder of Unlock Veterinary Consulting, supporting clinics with people-first, commercially smart business strategy, and Shift & Paws, a modern locum and staffing platform connecting good clinics with good people. She is passionate about building sustainable, psychologically safe workplaces and helping veterinary teams balance clinical excellence with strong business performance.
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