Moving to the other side of the world is a big call. And when you are a vet, it comes with a specific set of worries: the exams, the visas, the registration paperwork, whether you will end up somewhere you love or somewhere miles from anywhere.
We have these conversations every week. So instead of another glossy “why Australia is amazing” piece, here are the questions vets actually ask us before they make the move, answered honestly.
“Do I have to sit an exam to work as a vet in Australia?”
For most of the vets we place, no.
If you graduated from a school accredited by the RCVS (UK), the AVMA (US and Canada), the Veterinary Council of Ireland, or the South African Veterinary Council, the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC) already recognises your degree. That means you can apply for registration with the relevant state or territory board without sitting a single exam.
If your qualification is not on the recognised list, the pathway is the Australasian Veterinary Examination (AVE): an eligibility assessment, then a written multiple-choice paper, then a clinical exam. It is very doable, but it takes planning. Demand is high right now, all the multiple-choice places for the 2026 cycle were taken well before the standard window closed. If this is your route, start early.
The quickest way to know where you stand is to check your specific qualification against the AVBC list. We do this for candidates as a first step, so nobody wastes months assuming they need an exam they do not.
“How long does registration actually take?”
If your degree is recognised, registration is mostly an admin exercise: proof of qualification, proof of identity, English language evidence if required, and the board’s processing time. Get your documents in order early and it moves quickly.
The AVE route is longer, because the exams run on a fixed calendar rather than on demand.
The honest answer is that timelines depend entirely on which pathway applies to you, which is exactly why we map it out at the start rather than leaving you guessing.
“Which visa do I need?”
There is no single answer. The two most common:
Working Holiday visa (subclass 417 or 462)
The simplest way in if you are eligible. It is designed for younger applicants, and the age ceiling now reaches 35 for passport holders from the UK, Ireland and Canada. You can apply yourself online, it is relatively quick, and it lets you work and travel. It is the classic “try before you commit” option.
Employer-sponsored visa (subclass 482, Skills in Demand)
This is where a clinic sponsors you into a role. It comes with a genuine pathway to permanent residency down the line, and it is the route most vets take when they know Australia is a long-term move rather than a working holiday.
Sponsorship visas involve more paperwork than a working holiday visa, and processing times vary, so a good adviser is worth their weight. GVC coordinates this end to end, including the interplay between registration and visa, so the two run in parallel rather than one holding up the other.
“Can my partner come with me? And what about the kids?”
Yes! An employer-sponsored 482 can include your partner and dependent children, and your partner has the right to work in Australia.
This is one of the most common questions we get, and one of the most reassuring answers, because for a lot of vets the move only makes sense if it works for the whole family, not just their career.
“Should I go rural or stay near a city?”
Both have their place, and the right answer depends on what you’re after.
Metro and coastal roles are competitive and put you near the lifestyle that draws a lot of people to Australia in the first place. Regional and rural roles often pay more, give you broader clinical variety earlier, and sometimes come with travel or accommodation support. If you are newly qualified and want to build confidence across a wide caseload fast, regional practice can be the smartest career move you make.
If you’d rather not commit to one place straight away, locum work lets you move between practices and regions, see the country, and work out where you actually want to settle before you sign anything long term.
“What will I actually earn, and what will it cost to live there?”
Vet salaries in Australia are competitive, and the lifestyle you buy with them is a big part of the appeal: shorter commutes, more daylight, and weekends built around the outdoors.
Understanding superannuation
One thing to understand before you accept an offer is superannuation (or “super”) the mandatory retirement contribution your employer pays on top of your salary, currently set at 12 per cent of your ordinary earnings.
Watch the wording of any offer carefully. There is a meaningful difference between “X plus super” and “X plus super” and ” X plus super” and “X inclusive of super.” The first means super is paid on top of your agreed salary – the second means it is built into the figure, reducing your actual take-home pay. Always confirm the base salary before super is applied, so you are comparing offers on a like-for-like basis.
If you are joining on a Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417 or 462), your employer is still legally required to contribute super on your behalf throughout your placement. The difference comes when you leave. Rather than sitting in a fund until retirement, you can claim it back through something called a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment, or DASP. You apply after your visa has expired and you have left the country.
The catch is the tax. The ATO applies a 65 per cent tax rate to DASP claims for working holiday makers, which means you receive roughly 35 cents in every dollar contributed. On a placement of several months, that can still represent a meaningful lump sum. Think of it as a taxed travel bonus waiting at the end of your time in Australia rather than a full savings return. Factor it in, but do not rely on it as a significant payout.
One practical tip: start preparing your DASP paperwork before you leave. It is easier to certify documents and contact your super fund while you are still in the country. If you do not claim within six months of departing and your visa has expired, your super fund will transfer the balance to the ATO – you can still claim it, but it adds an extra step.
A word on cost of living
You will see articles claiming that Australia has a high cost of living, and some UK vets arrive expecting their salary to go further than it does. There is usually a straightforward explanation for the gap between expectation and reality, and it has nothing to do with Australia being unaffordable.
A vet from a market town in Devon or a smaller city in the Midlands rarely relocates to a comparable town in rural Queensland. They move to Sydney. Or Melbourne. Or Brisbane. And then they are surprised that life costs more than it did back home.
This is the same experience a vet from Truro would have if they moved to London, or from Inverness to Edinburgh, or from Cork to Dublin. Major cities in any country command major city prices – for rent, for food, for going out. That comparison is the right one to make, not Australia versus the UK at a national level.
The good news is that regional and suburban Australia can offer genuine value. Salaries in regional practice are often higher to reflect the location, the cost of renting outside the major metros is considerably lower, and you are still getting the climate, the lifestyle, and the professional experience that made the move worthwhile in the first place.
Before you decide where to base yourself, run your expected take-home pay through a local cost of living calculator for the specific city or region you are considering. The numbers will look very different between central Sydney and the Sunshine Coast, and both will look different again from a regional town in Victoria or Western Australia.
How we can support
Most of the questions above have straightforward answers once someone who knows the process walks you through them. The hard part is not the individual steps, it is not knowing which apply to you, in what order, and what you can safely stop worrying about.
That is the part we handle. From checking your qualification, to lining up registration and visa together, to matching you with a practice that fits how you want to work and live, GVC manages the move so you can focus on the excitement of a fresh start.
Thinking about Australia? Register your interest and our APAC team will be in touch.
