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It was picked up by several media outlets, including radio and national TV, and the accompanying piece we wrote for The Conversation was republished by multiple online publications. It answered a question, asked dozens of times by policymakers and professional organizations, and provided a foundational evidence base for veterinary accessibility in Australia.
However, the roughly 60-70 hours of work put in by my colleague and I to research, write and disseminate this information was unpaid.
Although I am a lecturer at James Cook University, I am a casual, therefore I am only paid to provide lectures and tutorials to students, and not eligible for the research hours allocated to permanent academic staff. Part of my motivation for originally doing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree, was because it provided an opportunity to do research in a paid manner (for a princely $27,082 a year). While completing a PhD is about much more than simply publishing research, through that program, I published 5 first-author papers, and 1 third-author paper. A reasonable return on investment for the Federal Government at roughly $13,500 per original article.
It wasn’t until I began undertaking my PhD, that I realised just how bad it is. All of my PhD research was funded through small grants, usually bequests or other charitable sources, each worth no more than $10,000. I had to beg a drug company to pay for some tests kits for one research project, for another, I convinced a lab manager to give me discounted tests. This ‘beg, borrow, steal’ approach to veterinary research is obscene, when you compare to the funding made available to other fields. What it leads to, is sporadic, often self-funded, research projects.
Longitudinal studies? Not possible, unless you have an academic involved with a particular interest and a tenured role.
Evidence base for clinical decision making? Better hope our colleagues in America or Europe are looking into it, or it’s cheap enough that some of the sub-$15,000 grants available in Australia will cover the costs.
Workforce or non-clinical issues? No chance.
After we published our most recent article, I had a number of veterinarians comment and contact me asking why I didn’t look into other accessibility barriers such as species or scope restrictions, or the lack of 24/7 care provided by clinics, or simply why we didn’t do more. It honestly made me despair, as it was such an effort, squeezed in among other paid work and family responsibilities, to just get this article done.
From the ethics application through to the inquiry process, reviewing the literature, writing the results, and disseminating to the public, I enjoy pretty much every aspect. However, the reality is, I don’t have endless time or funds to commit to research. I have to wonder why, if there is such a hunger or demand from the profession, we don’t see more funding or positions made available.
Why don’t we see funds from industry – the pharmaceutical, pet food, veterinary corporate and insurance companies – made available in Australia for veterinary research? Why don’t we see governments, state and federal Departments of Agriculture, make funds available to answer some of these questions? Why don’t we see universities creating more post-doctoral and pure research positions available to explore these topics?
I’m not the first person to question the lack of investment in research generally in Australia. Indeed, Australia currently spends less than 1.69% GDP on research and development, far below the rest of the OECD. Perhaps veterinary research is just the thin edge of the wedge, considered less important than other areas like health research, and a symptom of a wider trend in this country.
However, there is absolutely nothing stopping our profession and industry from bucking this trend, if we wanted to. This is a cultural problem, not a financial one. Why shouldn’t universities and veterinary schools allocate more roles and academic hours to veterinary research? Why shouldn’t the corporates and industry groups make funds available? And why shouldn’t state and federal Departments of Agriculture fund veterinary research?
The barriers to answering more questions, both within veterinary medicine and on the topic of the profession itself, are not a lack of talent or technique. It is purely a lack of funding.
Comment below or send me a message and let’s start a conversation. There are questions to answer, and people that can help answer them around this country. Let’s enable the work to happen and propel the veterinary profession forward, instead of lamenting, or waiting for someone to help us.
This post originally appeared on Dr Bronwyn Orr’s Substack @VetMatters: Vet Research is Broke(n) on 19 January 2026 – you can subscribe HERE
Dr Bronwyn Orr is an innovative leader in the veterinary profession. She writes about her current activities, the state of the market, the future of the profession and emerging trends with an ANZ focus. Her qualifications are BVSc, MSc, PhD, MANZCVS (Animal Welfare), GAICD. Bronwyn's Vet Matters Blog is a weekly bulletin that discusses trends in veterinary education, business, regulation and recruitment.
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