What it costs to move a dog or cat to Australia

Last verified: 2026-08-25

The answer

The Australian department publishes its own estimate, and it is the only number on this page that comes from an authority:

Two things about that figure decide whether it is useful to you.

It is the Australian government’s half of the bill. It covers the permit, the quarantine stay and the department’s handling. It does not cover a single thing your own vet, your own government or your airline will charge you — and in most moves those together cost more than the Australian side does.

It is identical whichever country you leave from. The United States, Great Britain and Canada are all Group 3, so the Australian charges do not change. What changes is the other half.

What the estimate covers, and what it explicitly does not

The department is direct about the exclusions, and they are the ones that catch people:

There may be additional fees if the cat or dog needs extra parasite treatments, veterinary care, an extended stay in quarantine or other services including testing where there is suspicion that the cat or dog may be harbouring a disease of biosecurity concern.

Add to that a terminal service fee charged per airway bill, and the department’s note that fees are reviewed annually. So AUD 3,114 is a floor for a move where nothing goes wrong, not a quote.

The most expensive of those exclusions is an extended stay. Your minimum is a minimum: if your animal is held longer, the daily charge continues, and you cannot decline it.

The permit fee, exactly

This one has a published breakdown rather than an estimate:

Moving two animals together is therefore substantially cheaper than moving them separately — AUD 925 rather than AUD 1,252 — provided they travel as one consignment.

Two warnings attach to this fee, both from the department:

• The listed assessment fees are minimum charges. Extra fees apply if your application is incomplete, contains errors, or requires a variation.
• The fee is non-refundable once you submit. Paying for a permit application you then get wrong is the cheapest expensive mistake in this process, and it is entirely avoidable by getting the document order right first.

When the money actually leaves your account

Budgeting the total is the easy half. The harder half is cash flow, because these payments are spread across the better part of a year and three of them are not optional or deferrable.

That last row is worth sitting with. The final payment is not a bill that arrives later — it is a condition of getting your animal back. Budget for it landing at the least convenient moment, several months after you have already spent heavily on preparation.

The half of the bill nobody can quote you

Everything below is real, unavoidable, and has no official published price, because no authority sets one:

• Veterinary consultations — several, spread over months.
• The rabies vaccination and the RNATT.
• Additional blood tests — for dogs, potentially Leishmania, Brucella and Leptospira.
• Parasite treatments, repeated on a schedule.
• Government endorsement of your health certificate in your own country.
• An IATA-compliant crate, bought for the carrier you will actually fly.
• Air cargo, which for a live animal is not priced like freight or like a passenger ticket.
• A pet transport agent, if you use one.

This site will not publish an average for any of them. Prices vary by country, by city, by species, by the size of the animal and by the week you ask. A figure invented from forum posts would look authoritative and be worthless — and you would budget against it.

Get written quotes for these six things and you will have a real total:

1. Your vet’s full protocol, itemised, including all tests and treatments.
2. The laboratory’s fees.
3. Your government’s endorsement fee.
4. The crate, in the model your carrier accepts.
5. Air cargo for your route, on your dates.
6. An agent’s fee, and precisely what it excludes.

What moves the number most

The identity check. It is a single procedure, done before the rabies blood test, and it is the difference between the 10-day and 30-day minimums — roughly AUD 1,120. It is the highest return on a single decision anywhere in this process, and it can only be made early. Miss the window and no amount of money buys the shorter stay.

Moving animals together. AUD 299 rather than AUD 626 for the second animal, in one consignment.

Getting the paperwork right first time. Permit fees are non-refundable, errors attract extra assessment fees, and a document mistake found late can restart preparation entirely.

Nothing about the flight is cheap, and the cheapest route is rarely the best one. A routing with a transhipment can add requirements, handling and risk that cost more than the fare saved.

What this page does not tell you

• Any price outside Australia. Vet, laboratory, endorsement, crate, cargo and agent costs are not published by any authority and are not estimated here.
• What a pet transport agent should charge, or whether one is worth it for your move.
• Currency and payment method — the figures are Australian dollars, and your bank’s conversion is between you and your bank.
• Whether these figures are current. They carry the date they were verified, and the department reviews its fees annually. Check the department’s own fee page before you budget.
• The cost of an extended quarantine stay, which depends entirely on why it was extended.