What is the Australian legislation governing animal welfare?

Updated on October 30, 2020

There are no national laws applying to animal welfare, but all states and territories regulate animal welfare in their jurisdiction. The legislation in each state and territory is shown in the table below.

State/Territory	Animal Welfare Act	Animal Welfare Regulation	Department to contact
Australian Capital Territory	Animal Welfare Act 1992	Animal Welfare Regulation 2001	ACT City Services
New South Wales	Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979	Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulation 2025	Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development
Northern Territory	Animal Protection Act 2018	Animal Protection Regulations 2022	Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
Queensland	Animal Care and Protection Act 2001	Animal Care and Protection Regulation 2023	Department of Primary Industries
South Australia	Animal Welfare Act 1985	Animal Welfare Regulations 2012	Department for Environment and Water
Tasmania	Animal Welfare Act 1993	Animal Welfare (General) Regulations 2013	Department of Natural Resources and Environment
Victoria	Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986	Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Regulations 2019	Agriculture Victoria
Western Australia	Animal Welfare Act 2002	Animal Welfare (General) Regulations 2003	Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

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