Victorian Parliament has unanimously backed the Animal Justice Party's motion for electronic prescribing for veterinarians, in a win for the vet industry.

On the 12th August 2026, Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell moved a motion calling for electronic prescriptions to be allowed in Victoria’s veterinary industry. This might sound like a small change, but as Georgie knows (as someone with 25 animals of various different species), it is an incredibly meaningful one. This change would drastically improve animal welfare by ensuring quicker care – but it will also lower medication costs, reduce travel and remove barriers to accessing veterinary care for our animals, particularly in regional areas where services are even more limited.

The motion was carried unanimously, demonstrating multi-party support for this important reform for the veterinary industry and animal owners. It’s a sign of just how overdue this reform is.

“It’s often hard to find issues the entire parliament can agree on, but supporting our vets is one of them. Electronic prescription means lower medication costs, less travel, fewer barriers to accessing veterinary care for our animals, and reducing some of the pressures on the vet sector.” – Georgie Purcell.  Electronic prescribing would remove the paperwork burden that has long weighed on veterinary practices, while giving animal owners greater choice and convenience when filling prescriptions. Advocates say the shift to secure e-script technology would also strengthen public safety. This reform doesn’t require legislation to pass Parliament. It can be delivered through existing regulatory processes – meaning it can happen right now. The government has supported starting the process, and now needs to prioritise the work to get it done before the election.

Due to varying state-based regulations around veterinary prescriptions, eScripts for animal health cases are generally not an accepted form of prescription.  Commonwealth and state regulators have repeatedly denied vets the right to use eScripts because of what they claim is a lack of infrastructure to facilitate information exchange between vets and pharmacists.

Megan Auld, CEO of online vet store Vets Love Pets and its stablemate prescription exchange platform VetScript, is one of several industry leaders who advocated for vets to be permitted to issue electronic prescriptions directly to pharmacies. She received personal acknowledgement for her role in advocating for this commonsense reform that will reduce the legacy paperwork burden on vet practices, will deliver greater choice and convenience for animal owners, and will enhance public safety through secure e-script technology. She added that the change in Victoria legislation “is a huge step forward for the veterinary industry and for pet owners who will get access to e-scripts for their pet medications for the first time.” “For our dedicated vets, it will close the digital gap between human and animal healthcare, moving away from the outdated paper red tape that fuels workforce burnout. For the 73 per cent of Australian households with a pet, secure e-scripts empower owners to shop around and manage cost-of-living pressures.

“With Victoria now paving the way for modern, accessible veterinary care, we urge all Australian jurisdictions to act swiftly so that this standard of care becomes a reality nationwide.”