Careers at RSPCA Victoria

Work at Australia’s most-trusted animal welfare organisation and help end cruelty to all animals.

Established in 1871, RSPCA Victoria is an independent, non-government animal welfare charity whose vision is ending cruelty to all animals. Our purpose is to work with the community to achieve outstanding animal welfare through education, advocacy, animal care and protection.

Work for RSPCA Victoria

At RSPCA Victoria, we contribute positively to the lives of animals with a team of staff and volunteers in the following areas:

  • Animal care
  • Vet clinics
  • Animal behaviour and rehabilitation
  • Adoptions and customer service
  • Education and learning
  • Community outreach
  • Inspectorate
  • Op shops and retail
  • Fundraising
  • Organisational support (such as finance, IT, HR and communications)

Staff and volunteers have the opportunity to positively impact the lives of animals and make meaningful contributions to our vision of ending cruelty to all animals.

Do you have a question about recruitment or volunteering? Please email our People and Infrastructure team via recruitment@rspcavic.org.au

Veterinary careers


Become a vet at RSPCA Victoria and join a team of passionate people working to improve the welfare and quality of life for animals.

A unique veterinary experience

Working at an RSPCA Victoria vet clinic is a unique experience, with opportunities to work in both private practice and shelter medicine helping pets and animals in our care.

Private practice

RSPCA Victoria has two clinics at our animal care centres in Burwood East and Peninsula. Here we provide a comprehensive array of veterinary services to help people’s pet live a happy and healthy life.

We strive to be a centre of excellence and pride ourselves using the latest research and treatments to ensure we are providing best practice, compassionate veterinary care to our patients.

Shelter medicine

More than 14,000 animals come through the doors of RSPCA Victoria every year. Some of these animals have come from unsafe living environments and are very unwell, while others simply need routine desexing and vaccinations to prepare them for a new loving home – either way, our vet team is integral in giving them a second chance at life.

A day in the life of an RSPCA Victoria Vet

A day in the life of a veterinarian or vet nurse might involve facilitating vet consults for the private clinic, desexing shelter animals and providing vet care to Inspectorate animals who have been neglected or subjected to cruelty.

Hear from the team

“I started at RSPCA Victoria as a volunteer. They supported me through my studies and I have gone on to become the nurse team leader at RSPCA Peninsula. There is a strong support network from both colleagues and managers. The difference with RSPCA Victoria is that there is a clear focus on animal welfare, not add-on products and sales targets.”
– Melissa, Veterinary Nurse Team Leader, 18 years’ service.

“I love the ‘can do’ attitude and collegiate feel at RSPCA Victoria, it is a supportive environment and you can find your niche and grow into it. It is a multicultural workplace with lots of people who share their wisdom, and with a large workforce, there is always something happening.”
– Sue, Veterinarian, 15 years’ service

Clinical excellence

At RSPCA, we aim to provide the best clinical outcome to patients from both our shelter and private clinics. We strive to be a centre of clinical excellence, with highly skilled teams performing best practice medical care to our animals.

Learning and development


We are committed to enhancing the skills of our veterinary teams, with access to financial support and allocated time to complete continued professional development within work hours.

Graduate veterinarians

Graduate veterinarians are supported with shorter consultation times, professional development and opportunities to experience and participate in surgery for private patients and shelter animals.

The Wotherspoon Scholarship

The Wotherspoon Scholarship has been made possible by way of a generous bequest made by Mr John Owen, in memory of his dog Honey. It is a $5,000 scholarship to undertake advanced formal study, research or professional practice in a discipline that will contribute to the understanding and development of shelter medicine at RSPCA Victoria.

Why join us

Our Culture and Values

At RSPCA Victoria, our values are embedded into our people and decision-making processes, and guide our interactions with one another on a daily basis

RSPCA Victoria recognises and rewards its employees and volunteers for role modelling and living the values on a daily basis. We measure our employee and volunteer engagement each year and continually look for ways to make our organisation a fantastic place to work.

Benefits and support

Flexible work

RSPCA Victoria provides a flexible working environment and flexible work options to facilitate work and life balance, including options to work from home and the provision of a rostered day off (RDO) for eligible roles.

Career support and professional development

We support your growth at RSPCA Victoria and beyond, offering internal and external training, higher duties and secondment opportunities to progress your career development.

A healthy workplace

We prioritise health and wellbeing to keep our teams healthy with a range of mental health support programs, including confidential counselling services for employees and volunteers, education programs for you and your family and mental health leave days.

Fostering inclusiveness

We are committed to being an inclusive place to work and volunteer. You can read more about our work in this space on our Diversity and Inclusion page.

Animals in the office

To help socialise our shelter animals, the Animals In The Office program sees dogs and cats spend time in our offices across the state.

Diversity and inclusion

RSPCA Victoria prioritises recognising, promoting and celebrating diversity within our workplace and the community. Learn more about our commitment to ensuring that all people feel safe, respected and valued.

More about Diversity & Inclusion