Arrival in Australia: what happens in the first 24 hours

Last verified: 2026-08-25

The answer

Your pet lands at Melbourne as manifest cargo. A biosecurity officer collects it on arrival and transports it to the Mickleham post-entry quarantine facility. You do not meet it at the airport.

You are notified by email within 24 hours that the animal arrived safely — and immediately if there is a problem.

At the facility the department checks the animal for diseases or pests of biosecurity concern and assesses the import documents against the import conditions.

What must travel with the animal

Send the documents with your pet, and keep a copy of each for yourself:

• a valid import permit — valid on the day of arrival, which is when the RNATT expires;
• the veterinary health certificate, and it must be an original. Copies are not accepted;
• laboratory test reports and vaccination certificates relevant to each requirement;
• the RNATT declaration.

Every page of the veterinary health certificate and of the laboratory reports must carry the original wet-ink stamp of the competent authority, signed and dated by the endorsing official government veterinarian. Only the first page of the import permit needs endorsement.

“Wet ink” is meant literally. A scan, a photocopy or a printed stamp on the health certificate is not the document Australia is expecting.

The crate, and what must not be in it

The animal travels in an IATA-approved crate.

Do not place any items in the crate — including toys, medication or items of value. They are destroyed as biosecurity waste on arrival.

This surprises people every time. A favourite blanket, a familiar toy, a bag of the usual food taped to the door: all destroyed, none returned. If your pet needs medication during quarantine, that is arranged with the facility under its own rules, not by packing it.

If something does not comply

If the animal does not comply with the permit conditions, further tests, treatments or quarantine may apply. The department states the range of outcomes plainly, and it is worth reading once:

Your pet may be held longer in post-entry quarantine, subject to additional testing, exported, or euthanised. You will be liable for any costs involved.

That is not a scare tactic; it is the published consequence of arriving with paperwork that does not match the animal. It is also why the unamendable fields — the microchip number, the sampling dates, the test results — deserve the checking they get on matching identifiers.

What this page does not tell you

• What the inspection consists of in detail, or how long it takes.
• How a non-compliance is decided or appealed.
• What the inspection consists of on the day. Visiting is settled, though: the department does not permit it at any point — see inside quarantine.
• What happens to an animal that becomes unwell in transit, beyond the department contacting you immediately.