Does your move count as a pet moving with its owner?

Last verified: 2026-08-25

The answer, and an honest note about it

Everything on this site describes a pet dog or cat relocating with its household: an animal you own, moving because you are moving, not being sold, transferred or imported as stock.

That boundary is this site’s scope, not a distinction read from Australia’s cat and dog import conditions. In the department’s material read so far, the pathway is defined by country group, species and preparation, not by a commercial versus non-commercial split of the kind the EU uses for pet travel. Where the department’s rules do turn on it, this site has not verified it, so it does not claim it either way.

If you are importing for sale, for breeding, or for a change of ownership, ask the department before relying on anything here. Not every application leads to a permit, and the permit sets out the conditions that apply to your case.

What the pathway does turn on

The conditions that actually decide your route, all verified:

• Where the animal has lived. At least 180 days of continuous residence in an approved country before export, counted from the day the RNATT sample reaches the laboratory. That is residency, not quarantine — the animal can live with you or with someone else.
• Its condition at export. Not under quarantine restrictions, not more than 30 days pregnant, not nursing.
• The country’s group, which sets the rabies requirements.

Note what is not on that list: your visa status, your reason for moving, or your relationship to the animal. The system is asking about disease risk and evidence, not about your household.

Multiple animals

If you are moving more than one, the term that matters is consignment: animals sent to Australia, departing at the same time from the same country of origin, listed under the same importer and exporter details on the permit application.

That is worth arranging deliberately — the permit fee is AUD 626 for the first animal and AUD 299 for each additional animal in the same consignment. Animals travelling separately are separate consignments at the full fee each.

Cases this site does not cover

• Commercial import — for sale, breeding or transfer of ownership.
• Animals travelling unaccompanied for someone else, or being rehomed internationally.
• Assistance animals, which may have their own pathway.
• Any species other than dogs and cats, and any destination other than Australia.

For any of these, go to the department directly. See what this site covers for the exact boundary.

What this page does not tell you

• Whether Australia formally distinguishes commercial from non-commercial cat and dog import. No source read so far defines it, and this site will not invent the distinction.
• What changes if your move is commercial — permit conditions, certification and possibly a different pathway, all of which the department determines.
• Your own country’s export rules for a commercial movement, which may differ sharply from the personal-pet route documented here.