A dedicated PSA member is educating new staff on the importance of their union
Veterinarian Shaun Slattery has seen a lot of change since he started work at the Rural Lands Protection Boards in 1991.
“The workforce was overwhelmingly male and over 50, with all veterinarians working full-time,” he said. “We were not aligned with Public Sector pay rises and did not have many family-friendly and other public sector conditions.
“In 2025 as a male who is approaching 60, I’m a rarity in a District Veterinarian workforce that is overwhelmingly female, early and mid career with part-timers common. We now work for Local Land Services and through the work of the PSA we are now aligned to Public Sector pay rises and broader Public Sector conditions.”
Despite the gains the PSA has won for members in his workplace, Mr Slattery said many new staff are unsure about the roles unions play in their workplace.
“Under the Rural Lands Protection Boards, District Veterinarians were heavily unionised,” he said. “However, with two restructures and rapid turnover of District Veterinarians, this changed. Most District Veterinarians now come from private practice, where there is no union presence, and staff negotiate directly with their employers.
“Consequently, they have little or no knowledge of the arrangements within the NSW Public Sector and the PSA’s integral role for both employees and a functioning public service.
“I’ve found that the key to recruiting new members has been educating potential members on the role the PSA plays in the Public Sector, updating members by email, and using online meetings for consultation. The current Award negotiations have provided a real opportunity to both recruit new members and deliver for existing members.”
Mr Slattery said Local Land Services plays a vital role for the state’s primary industries, covering biosecurity, livestock disease surveillance, and animal emergency management.
“I was lucky enough to work on the major cattle residue programs of the 1990s,” he said. “Then working on a number of poultry emergency animal disease responses in the 1990s gave me an interest in emergency management.”
Mr Slattery has also worked on disease outbreaks among livestock in Britain and New Zealand.
“After a couple of years in management roles I returned to the government field veterinarian role where I’m privileged to investigate livestock diseases across the Narrabri and Walgett local authorities,” he said.
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