Why veterinary telehealth services are the answer to Australia’s vet care deserts

What happens when your pet needs Veterinary care at 7pm on a Friday? Or on Sunday afternoon? Or during public holidays, when local clinics may need to close?

For most Australians, the answer is straightforward: you call your local Vet, and if they are closed you visit the nearest available after-hours emergency clinic. But for the 250,000+ Australians living in veterinary care deserts, areas where veterinary services are more than an hour away, the options are far more limited and the decisions far more difficult.

In new research published in the Australian Veterinary Journal, the study on veterinary access in Australia reveals a concerning picture: the Northern Territory has over 20% of its population living in care deserts, and rural and regional areas are significantly underserved. However, these figures only reflect access during standard business hours. The reality is that many regional Veterinary clinics close by 5-6 pm on weekdays and by Saturday lunchtime, leaving communities without local access for up to 60 hours every single weekend. This is where veterinary telehealth services like VetChat are making a genuine difference.

How VetChat bridges the gap

When your local clinic is closed, and you’re facing that anxious moment of not knowing whether your pet needs immediate care, VetChat provides access to qualified Australian-registered veterinarians who can assess the situation with you. Through telehealth consultations, our vets can evaluate your pet’s symptoms, provide professional guidance, and most importantly, help you make informed decisions about what to do next.

For the 250,000+ Australians living in veterinary care deserts, this support is invaluable. VetChat offers triage when you need it most, helping you determine whether your pet’s condition requires an immediate drive to emergency care or can be safely managed at home with monitoring until your local clinic reopens on Monday. Our Vets can guide you through first-aid measures, advise on comfort care, and provide the reassurance that comes from a professional assessment.

“My two young pups and I are a bit isolated in a rural community, and I have some disabilities. I don’t drive, and my lovely local Vet gets inundated with work sometimes. Our budget is also a little tight. I had questions about girls on heat and a few others, and rang VetChat. Today we had a consultation with Dr Lucy, it saved me time and money and our Vet’s time too. Thank you, Sinead, Sam and Dr. Lucy, for your great information and sound advice. You helped me even when I struggle using my limited technology and skills. I have now taken the option of a years membership.

-Eleanor

Telehealth doesn’t replace the hands-on care that in-person veterinary visits provide, and we’re always clear about that. But it does provide something critically important: professional veterinary support when and where it’s needed most: during those long stretches when local care simply isn’t accessible.

The prescription barrier and why reform is essential

While VetChat can provide assessment, guidance, and triage support, there’s an important limitation: Vets cannot prescribe medications via telehealth under current Australian legislation.

This means that even when a Veterinarian has conducted a thorough telehealth consultation and determined that a pet clearly needs antibiotics for an infection or pain relief for an injury, we cannot issue a prescription. The pet owner still needs to obtain an in-person veterinary visit to receive those critical medications, which brings us back to the same access challenges telehealth is trying to solve.

Dr. Alejandra Arbe Montoya, a Veterinarian and director at Redgum Vet and Pet Boarding, sees this barrier firsthand in her regional practice. She’s advocated strongly for legislative change, stating, “There is an urgent need to amend veterinary legislation to permit telehealth consultations that include prescription authority. Allowing a licensed Veterinarian to issue a prescription following a telehealth appointment – redeemable at the client’s local pharmacy – would enable timely access to critical medications, such as analgesics and antibiotics, while clients arrange in-person care.”

Her point is crucial. For regional communities where the nearest available Vet is hours away, being able to collect a prescription from the local pharmacy could mean the difference between an animal suffering through a painful weekend and receiving prompt relief. It would allow pet owners to provide necessary treatment while they arrange transport to see a vet in person for a full examination.

Reform to enable responsible tele-prescribing would improve animal welfare outcomes and ensure pets can access critical medications when geographic barriers make immediate in-person care impossible.

Where we go from here

Right now, veterinary telehealth is making a genuine difference for regional communities facing limited access to care, providing professional support when and where it’s needed most.

With legislative reform to enable responsible tele-prescribing, services like VetChat could do so much more. Until then, we’re here to provide professional veterinary support during those long stretches when local care isn’t accessible, because your pet’s health shouldn’t depend on what time it is or where you live.

Learn more about how VetChat can support you and your pets, your veterinary clinic, or join us in advocating for the legislative changes that would make veterinary telehealth even more effective for animals across Australia.