Our Work
We make sure all Australians have the information and advice they need to make good health choices incorporating animal-assisted interventions.
Since the year 2001
What We Do
We make sure all Australians have the information and advice they need to make good health choices incorporating animal-assisted interventions.
We work to deliver affordable, quality complimentary Animal Assisted Intervention to the health system for better health, and outcomes for all Australians.
Our vision is better health and wellbeing for all Australians, now and for future generations.
We aim to achieve our vision through animal-assisted interventions - AAI evidence-based policy, well-targeted programs and best practice regulation.
Our strategic priorities include:
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better health and outcomes for all Australians
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an affordable, quality health and animal assisted interventions system
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better outcomes.
See our Corporate Plan for full details on our purpose and priorities.
We have been delivering Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI), Activities (AAA), Education (AAE) and Therapy (AAT).
Providing a wide range of animal assisted programs to thousands of adults and children each year, including forming mutually beneficial, complementary therapy programs, partnering with Service Providers within South Australia.
Our working teams of professionals, handlers, and dogs are on the job 6 days a week and can be seen throughout South Australia, delivering programs within various SA Service Providers facilities such as hospitals, retirement centres, schools, homeless shelters, disability services, community events and service delivery of Animal Assisted Activities Programs within metropolitan Adelaide and regional South Australia.
Awareness and Education
How we share information
We share information in different ways so you can choose what works best for you, including through:
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this website (read the latest updates in news and events)
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print and online education materials (many are available in our resources section)
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the people who deliver services to you such as nurses, GPs and other health workers, and people working in care
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animal assisted intervention education campaigns on television, radio, print media and digital media.
Topics we cover
We aim to raise awareness of important health, care issues and topics such as:
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mental health
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exercise and healthy eating
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taking part in animal-assisted interventions - programs and services
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chronic disease prevention and management
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emergency management
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animal screening programs
Keeping you informed
An important part of our work is to make sure you have the best available information and advice about health and animal-assisted interventions in Australia.
We want to:
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give you the facts about how to stay healthy and prevent illness
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help you to understand how animal assisted interventions can benefit you with your health
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provide a list of contacts to help you find available and relevant services in animal-assisted interventions
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keep you up to date on issues related to health
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update you on the initiatives and programs that we are running to improve health outcomes.
For health professionals and health and SA service providers, we also aim to:
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connect you with other stakeholders in the health care system incorporating animal assisted interventions
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help you understand and meet your rights and obligations when working with animals
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support you with AAI information, education, and training.
Consultation and Engagement
We work with stakeholders including members of the public, other government agencies, peak bodies, and service providers.
Find out how you can have your say about our policies, initiatives, and programs.
Have your say
Go to our Consultation Hub to find consultations and provide feedback on those that may interest you.
Who we work with
We consult and engage with all our stakeholders, including:
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health and aged care, disability care, mental health care professional and industry groups
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other Commonwealth, state, and territory government departments and agencies
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health professionals
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the general public
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non-government organisations
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governments, health, and organisations in other countries
Why our stakeholders are important
We consult and engage with our stakeholders to help us understand the health, animal-assisted intervention needs of our community.
We know that we don’t have expertise in every subject. Our stakeholders have valuable experience in delivering services and can offer insights into what works best.
They share their expertise to help us deliver high-quality policies, programs, and services.
Professionals and industry stakeholders offer expertise and specialist knowledge to our committees, forums, and partnerships.
How we consult and engage
Our Stakeholder Engagement Framework sets out the principles and standards that apply when we consult and engage with our stakeholders.
We encourage input from stakeholders in various ways including:
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Committees and groups
We use committees and groups to work on specific topics or issues. We often engage the specialist expertise of our stakeholders to help us achieve our goals. -
Consultations
Input into our consultations helps us to better understand the problems we are trying to solve and the needs of the community. Go to our Consultation Hub to find consultations and provide feedback on those that may interest you. -
Forums
Our forums bring together governments, experts, consumers, and other stakeholders. They help us to understand the needs of our stakeholders when we are planning future work. -
Agreed collaborations
We work with stakeholders on projects, initiatives, and reference groups. These types of collaborations are formal relationships based on agreements and contracts, such as terms of reference and memoranda of understanding (MOUs).
Initiatives and Projects
We’re working on many initiatives and programs to deliver services and activities in improving health.
We regularly check to see how these are meeting the needs of Australians and improve where needed.
Our priorities and our corporate plan guide the focus of our initiatives and programs. Our policy work shapes the way we design and implement our initiatives and programs.
Through our initiatives and programs, we:
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fund, deliver, monitor and regulate AAI services and activities
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evaluate how well the services and activities are meeting the needs of the Australian community
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continually improve services and activities as we gain new information.
We work closely with our stakeholders to deliver our services and activities.
View a list of our initiatives and programs.
Joint Venture with us
Our Partners as we build on the impact were making together
Learn about the benefits of working with us. we offer a varied, challenging and rewarding joint venture projects. The work we do shapes health, care and AAI policy, programs and research in Australia.
Work with us
It’s amazing what happens when people see the difference they can make.
Once people realize their power to make a difference in the lives of their families, communities and environment, there’s no going back—only forward. Therapeutic Dog Services Incorporated helps one success lead to another as we build on the impact we’re making together: