South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts (1) In this Act,
unless the contrary intention appears—
"appropriate register" means—
(a) the
general register; or
(b) the
specialist register,
as the case may require;
"artificial breeding procedure" includes artificial insemination, collection
of ova, embryos or semen, implantation of embryos and in vitro fertilisation;
"beneficiary" includes an object of a discretionary trust;
"Board" means the Veterinary Surgeons Board of South Australia (see Part 2);
"director" of a body corporate means a member of the board or committee of
management of the body corporate, whether validly appointed or not;
"District Court" means the Administrative and Disciplinary Division of the
District Court;
"equipment" includes appliances, instruments, dressings and substances used
for the purposes of veterinary treatment;
"general register"—see Part 3 Division 1;
"health professional" means—
(a) a
person who is registered in this State as a medical practitioner; or
(b) a
person who is registered in this State as a psychologist; or
(c) any
other person who belongs to a profession, or who has an occupation, declared
by the Board, by notice in the Gazette, to be a profession or occupation
within the ambit of this definition;
"inspector" means a person authorised by the Board to exercise the powers of
an inspector under this Act;
"legal practitioner" means a person admitted and enrolled as a practitioner of
the Supreme Court of South Australia;
"proceedings" before the Board includes—
(a) an
application for registration or reinstatement of registration on the
general register or specialist register; and
(b) an
application for accreditation of a facility as a veterinary hospital;
"provide", in relation to veterinary treatment, means provide treatment
personally or through the instrumentality of another, and includes offer to
provide;
"qualified person"—see section 39;
"record" means—
(a) a
documentary record; or
(b) a
record made by an electronic, electromagnetic, photographic or optical
process; or
(c) any
other kind of record;
"Registrar" means the person holding or acting in the office of Registrar of
the Board;
"repealed Act" means the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1985 ;
"specialist" means a person registered on the specialist register;
"specialist register"—see Part 3 Division 1;
"specialty" means a branch of veterinary practice declared by the Board, by
notice in the Gazette, to be a specialty;
"trust"—a trust is considered for the purposes of this Act as a single
entity consisting of the trustees and the beneficiaries;
"trust or corporate entity" means a trust or a body corporate;
"unprofessional conduct" includes—
(a)
improper or unethical conduct in relation to professional practice; and
(b)
incompetence or negligence in relation to the provision of veterinary
treatment; and
(c) a
contravention of or failure to comply with—
(i)
a provision of this Act; or
(ii)
a code of conduct or professional standards prepared or
endorsed by the Board under this Act; and
(d)
conduct that constitutes an offence punishable by imprisonment for 1 year or
more under some other Act or law;
"veterinary services provider" means a person (not being a veterinary surgeon)
who provides veterinary treatment through the instrumentality of a
veterinary surgeon;
"veterinary surgeon" means a person registered on the general register or on
both the general register and the specialist register;
"veterinary treatment" means—
(a) the
diagnosis, treatment or prevention of a disease, injury or condition in an
animal; or
(b) the
administration of an anaesthetic to an animal; or
(c) the
castration or spaying of an animal; or
(d) the
carrying out of a prescribed artificial breeding procedure on an animal; or
(e) any
other act or activity of a kind declared by the regulations to be
veterinary treatment,
but does not include anything excluded from the ambit of this definition by
the regulations.
(2) A reference in
this Act to "unprofessional conduct" extends to—
(a)
unprofessional conduct committed before the commencement of this Act; and
(b)
unprofessional conduct committed within or outside South Australia or the
Commonwealth.
(3) A reference in
this Act to "veterinary treatment" (except in section 27) extends, when
used in connection with a veterinary surgeon, to all advice, attendances,
services, procedures and operations given in the course of the practice of
veterinary surgery or veterinary medicine.
(4) Without limiting
the generality of the expression, a person who is not a veterinary surgeon
will be taken to provide veterinary treatment through the instrumentality of a
veterinary surgeon if that person, in the course of carrying on a business,
provides services to the veterinary surgeon for which the person is entitled
to receive a share in the profits of the veterinary surgeon's veterinary
practice.
(5) For the purposes
of this Act, a person "occupies a position of authority in a trust or
corporate entity if the person—
(a) in
the case of a body corporate—
(i)
is a director of the body corporate; or
(ii)
exercises, or is in a position to exercise, control or
substantial influence over the body corporate in the conduct of its affairs;
or
(iii)
manages, or is to manage, the business of the body
corporate that consists of the provision of veterinary treatment; or
(iv)
where the body corporate is a proprietary
company—is a shareholder in the body corporate; or
(b) in
the case of a trust—is a trustee or beneficiary of the trust.
(6) However—
(a) a
minor who is a shareholder in a proprietary company, or a beneficiary under a
trust, is not, for that reason, to be regarded as a person
occupying a position of authority; and
(b) a
charitable organisation that is a beneficiary of a trust is not, for that
reason, to be regarded as occupying a position of authority in the trust.
(7) For the purposes
of this Act, a person who holds more than 10 per cent of the issued share
capital of a public company will be regarded as a person
"occupying a position of authority" in that company.