Moving to Australia With Pets: Your After-Arrival Checklist

Your pet is finally home with you in Australia. Once any required quarantine and release conditions have been completed, there is another short checklist to work through: make them traceable locally, register them where required, and establish their ongoing care.

An import permit, a microchip and a veterinary file do different jobs. None should be assumed to have completed your local council registration for you. This guide covers life after arrival; use our Australia import guide for the journey itself.

YOUR ARRIVAL CHECKLIST

Four steps to settling in

Use this as your action list. The timing below is a planning guide; legal deadlines depend on the authority and your pet’s circumstances.

1. 1Make the chip traceable

   Start promptly after arrival

   Have the existing chip scanned; check Pet Address, then register or update the appropriate record with CAR, AAR or another accepted registry.

   KEEP AS CONFIRMATION

   Registry name, chip number and confirmation showing your current phone and address.

2. 2Complete local registration

   Check the deadline for your address

   Use the state and council links below. Ask about imported pets, species, desexing evidence, fees, permits and renewal.

   KEEP AS CONFIRMATION

   Council/state receipt, tag if issued and actual renewal date.

3. 3Book the first vet visit

   Arrange while your pet is well

   Send the history, import/release papers, vaccine products and dates, prescriptions and chip record.

   KEEP AS CONFIRMATION

   Named vet, emergency clinic and written preventive-care plan.

4. 4Keep separate reminders

   Ongoing

   Record registration renewal, individual vaccine due dates, parasite treatment and medication review separately. Update records again after temporary accommodation.

   KEEP AS CONFIRMATION

   Calendar reminders and copies of the supporting documents.

Keep the chip record, local registration and veterinary plan together. Completing one does not automatically complete the others.

1. Register the existing microchip on a useful local database

Ask a local vet to scan your pet’s existing chip and check the number against the travel documents. Then use Pet Address to look for a record in participating Australian databases. A chip is an identification number; it does not automatically carry your new Australian address, and a foreign registration does not create a local record.

Two practical options are Central Animal Records (CAR) and Australasian Animal Registry (AAR). If a record already exists, update it. If not, follow the registry’s registration process for your existing chip. These are examples of registry services, not a requirement to pay both.

For overseas chips, CAR’s already-implanted new-listing instructions say most can be listed, with a vet scan and signature to verify the number. Some chip types cannot be accepted. Ask the vet and registry before considering another implant. AAR’s owner page provides registration, update and owner-form routes; contact AAR if your overseas number is not recognised.

Enter your Australian address, reachable mobile number and an alternative contact. Save the confirmation, check every digit of the chip number and update the record again after leaving temporary accommodation. If Pet Address finds nothing, contact the registry or vet: its search is not proof that no record exists anywhere.

State registration is a separate check. Use the NSW Pet Registry in NSW and check Dogs and Cats Online in South Australia. A CAR or AAR listing does not replace required state/council registration. Victoria publishes its licensed registry list, which includes CAR and AAR.

2. Register with the authority for your new address

Use the council covering your home, not the airport where your pet landed. Tell it that the animal has arrived from overseas and ask what evidence and arrival deadline apply. Keep the confirmation and any tag.

• Victoria: dogs and cats aged three months and over require local council registration. Existing registrations renew by 10 April each year. See Victoria's registration guidance.
• New South Wales: dogs and cats require microchipping and NSW Pet Registry registration. Registration is lifetime rather than an annual council renewal; separate permit requirements can still apply. Ask the council to help link an imported animal if it does not appear online. See Service NSW.
• Western Australia: dogs over three months require registration and microchipping; cats over six months require registration, microchipping and sterilisation, subject to applicable exemptions. City of Stirling's guidance is a useful example; use your own council for the application.
• South Australia: use Dogs and Cats Online and check the council's dog registration and cat requirements.
• Other states and territories: ask your council about both species, renewal dates, desexing rules and any cat containment or multiple-animal permits. Do not copy another state's checklist.

Find the council for your actual home address

Choose your state below, then use your residential address to find the responsible council. Open that council’s pet/animal registration page; a nearby council or the arrival airport’s council may have different rules. In the ACT, use the territory pet-registration service.

• New South Wales: NSW council finder
• Victoria: Victorian council finder
• Queensland: Queensland council directory
• Western Australia: WALGA council directory
• South Australia: SA council finder
• Tasmania: Tasmanian council finder
• Northern Territory: NT council directory
• Australian Capital Territory: ACT pet registration

For a pet imported into NSW, Service NSW’s registration checklist includes specific paperwork for animals arriving from interstate or overseas. Follow that checklist and ask your council to help if the imported chip is not linked to your profile.

3. Register with a local vet before you need one

Arrange an introductory appointment and send the full medical history, vaccination certificates, medication details and quarantine discharge paperwork in advance. Ask for a written preventive-care plan and the number and location of its out-of-hours service.

Discuss the risks at your actual address and where you will travel: tick prevention, heartworm, intestinal parasites and exposure to wildlife or standing water. Do not simply continue a product from overseas without checking its suitability and coverage with the vet.

4. Put vaccinations and registration on separate reminders

RSPCA Australia's dog guidance identifies distemper, adenovirus and parvovirus as core protection, commonly called C3. For cats, core F3 protection covers panleukopaenia and the principal cat-flu viruses. Additional vaccines and booster intervals depend on the animal, vaccine and exposure; boarding and daycare may have their own entry conditions.

Ask explicitly whether your council requires any vaccination evidence. Do not assume that renewing registration means every vaccine is due annually, or that an overseas rabies certificate determines your Australian council renewal date. Keep future international travel requirements on a separate calendar.

Check the linked authority pages for your address before applying. Fees, exceptions and council rules can change.

Useful resources: go straight to the right service

These links take you to the organisation responsible for the service. Commercial registries are options, not exclusive recommendations; check acceptance of your chip and current fees before paying.