Australia's country groups, and why yours decides everything

Last verified: 2026-08-25

The answer

The United States, Great Britain and Canada are all Group 3 countries. Group 3 means rabies is present but well controlled, and it is the classification that triggers the full rabies pathway: a titre test, a 180-day wait, and mandatory quarantine on arrival.

Two details in the official list matter if you are on the edge of them:

• the United States entry reads “United States of America (excluding Guam and Hawaii)”;
• the British entry reads “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.

What Group 3 obliges you to do

For a cat or dog from a Group 3 country, four rabies conditions apply together:

1. continuous residence in an approved country for at least 180 days before export;
2. current rabies vaccination;
3. a valid Rabies Neutralising Antibody Titre test (RNATT);
4. a declaration from the competent authority in your country of export.

The 180 days are counted from the date the RNATT blood sample arrives at the laboratory — not from the vaccination, and not from the test result. That single detail moves most people’s earliest possible travel date, and it is worked through on waiting periods and your earliest travel date.

Why the grouping exists at all

Australia is one of the few countries that remains free of rabies, and the import system is built to keep it that way. The group tells the department how much rabies risk your animal’s country of origin carries, and therefore how much evidence it wants before letting the animal in. It is not a judgement about your pet — an indoor cat from a rabies-free household in Ontario is treated exactly like every other Canadian cat.

What this page does not tell you

• The full list of groups. Australia also has other approved-country classifications with different conditions. Only Group 3 is covered here, because that is what the three origin countries this site supports fall into. If you are moving from somewhere else, go to the department’s own step-by-step guides.
• Whether your specific territory counts. Overseas territories, dependencies and islands are sometimes listed separately from the mainland country — Guam and Hawaii being the example above. If you are exporting from a territory rather than a mainland, confirm its listing with the department before you spend anything.
• Non-approved countries. If your country of export is not on an approved list at all, a different and much longer pathway applies, and this site does not cover it.