The central character in Woobinda is John Stevens, a veterinarian with a practice in the fictitious New South Wales country town of Gattens Creek. A widower, he has a teenage daughter, Tiggie, and an adopted Aboriginal son, Kevin. Stevens is assisted in his practice by Peter Fischer, a German vet, and his friend Jack Johnson, a local bushman. John Stevens, who is called 'Woobinda' by local Aboriginals, has strong compassion for animals, and is constantly striving to preserve fauna from what he calls 'senseless slaughter'.