The AVA has recently begun to achieve ahigher public profile. As the organisationmoves further into the public arena, the

more we have to consider what we say andwhere.This should not automatically mean that our

views or opinions need to be censored. What itdoes mean is that each of us needs to be evenmore vigilant about what we say and how we sayit. A great source of interest for members andoften industry groups and themedia is not just the AVJ butalso, and increasingly, theelectronic and paper newsletterspublished by AVA Divisions,Branches and Special InterestGroups. One recent AVA newsletterindicated that there was generalsupport from members for theAVA’s media comments inrelation to the Cormo Expresssheep crisis. This comment alsosaid the media releases weredisappointing to somemembers. A journalist lookingfor a story could haveinterpreted that as meaningthere was a split in the AVA, even though thiswas not the intention of the writer. This wouldcertainly undo all the work we had done recentlyin building the AVA’s profile. Newsletters are a valuable tool forcommunicating with members, but in today’sage of electronic communication they can bedistributed much more widely than we realise. Itis a good idea to get someone who has not readthe newsletter to look over it with fresh eyesbefore it goes to the printer or is uploaded to awebsite. Once the document goes out, even to aselect group, it is a public document. This meansit may be open to defamation or copyrightaction, which can be very messy and costly –even if you “win”. A freedom of speech versus anti-lawyer debateabout the issue of pricing recently surfaced onAVAList, AVA’s electronic mail discussion list.Legal advice was obtained because of concernsthat the discussion may have breached sectionsof the Trade Practices Act. Of course, contributors to AVAList and otherchat rooms are communicating using thewritten word. Once those words are sent to a listthey are effectively published. This means theauthor is subject to different aspects of the lawincluding, in this case, the Trade Practices Act

1974. The essence of the legal advice we received wasthat: Section 45A declares illegal per seprovisions having the purpose or effect of“fixing, controlling or maintaining, or providingfor the fixing, controlling or maintaining of, theprice for, or a discount, allowance, rebate orcredit in relation to, goods or services”.The consequences of a breach can be impositionof the pecuniary penalties under Section 76 of

the Act of up to $10 millionfor corporations and$500,000 for individuals. Inaddition, damages andinjunction remedies areavailable under Sections 82and 80 and remedial ordersunder Section 87. Veterinary surgeons in privatepractice are in competitionwith other practices. That isthe nature of the business. Iftwo or more competingveterinary surgeons discussprices being charged for goodsor services, that can be anarrangement or anunderstanding, or a proposed

arrangement or understanding that would orcould have the effect or be likely to have theeffect of substantially lessening competition, orfixing, controlling or maintaining the price forthose goods or services. As such, that activity isa restrictive trade practice under the provisionsof the Trade Practices Act.This should not turn people off using AVAList.Nor should it discourage Divisions fromgathering and making available surveyinformation on the range or median pricescharged by practitioners in their Division andpublishing (without identification) the range ormedian. This kind of information must be freeof identifiers and is survey information only,which should be plainly labelled as such. Thosewho read the information are free to use it asthey wish. So what is the take-home message? Beingnoticed has its positives and negatives, but thepositives far outweigh the negatives. If in doubtabout content, get someone else to read it and ifstill in doubt send it to me in draft and I will runit past our legal advisers.The upside of all this is that if we are carefulwith the written word we can reduce thepossibility of giving lawyers any access tomembers funds and to our own funds.

News

Aust Vet J Vol 81, No 11, November 2003652

Expect increased scrutiny toaccompany our higher profile

AVA CEO Margaret Conley

c o m m e n t

AVA welcomestwo new faces

Two new staff have joinedAVA National office inArtarmon. They will work in

the areas of membership andpublications.Jennifer Docherty joins as AVAMembership Services Managerwith a brief to develop andmaintain the member andprospect member relationshipprocess, develop and implementacquisition campaigns, andimprove and promote servicesand benefits to members.

“Jennifer’s skills and experiencewill be highly valued within theAVA as we seek to furtherpromote membership of theAssociation, improve servicesand benefits, and communicatemore effectively with membersand prospect members,” saidAVA Corporate Services ManagerLauretta Stace.Mark Thornley has joined AVA

as Managing Editor, AVAPublications. Mark has over 10years experience managing andediting publications and is awidely published photographerand feature writer.

He joins AVA from the NSWInstitute of Sport where heedited ten publications, directedvideo and multimediaproductions, and managedcontent and maintenance of theNSWIS website.

Jennifer Docherty,AVA MembershipServices Manager

Mark Thornley,Managing Editor, AVAPublications