Circulars

What’s new or changing?

Annual CPI Adjustment

• The 2024/25 fees payable for registration and permits for companion animals have been adjusted for inflation under clauses 18 and 27 of the Companion Animals Regulation 2018 (CA Regulation) calculated as prescribed under Schedule 2 of the Regulation using Consumer Price Index (CPI) by the Parliamentary Counsel.
• The new fees are effective from 1 July 2024.

Fee categories

• Category names have been amended to reflect the implementation of current legislation relating to registration that has been enabled by the new functionality of the Companion Animals Register (CAR) and new NSW Pet Registry, which allows for the individual payment of registration fees as prescribed under the CA Regulation, being:
  • Dog – Registration fee (by 12 weeks or when sold if earlier than 12 weeks of age)
  • Registration fee due at 12 weeks of age or when first sold (even if it is less than 12 weeks (clause 14 – CA Regulation)
  • Dog – Additional Fee (dog not desexed by 6 months)
  • Additional fee for a dog that is not desexed and not exempt from desexing by 6 months (clause 18 – CA Regulation) and an annual fee for a permit for a cat not desexed and not exempt from desexing by 4 months (clause 27 – CA Regulation)

• A Registration late fee will apply to an animal not registered by 12 weeks of age (plus 28 days).

Online and in person payments

• Until the functionality upgrade on the new NSW Pet Registry is complete the following fees must be paid at council:
  • Dog – Additional Fee (dog not desexed by 6 months)Cat (not desexed by four months of age)Dangerous dog permit
  • Restricted dog permit
• The fees above will incur a late fee if not paid after an additional 28 days.

What will this mean for council?

• Council is to apply the adjusted 2024/25 financial year companion animal registration and annual permit fees from 1 July 2024.
• Council staff need to be aware of the new payment categories.
• Councils must continue to register eligible pound/shelter and approved rehoming organisation animals through the CAR. Free registration for these animals does not mean that registration is not required. The established process of ‘flagging’ an animal as being purchased from an eligible pound/shelter is required to validate a free registration.
• Councils can encourage members of the public to establish a NSW Pet Registry account via Service NSW to pay registration fees and receive push notifications.

Key points

• The NSW Pet Registry will be updated to include the new fees for online registration and permit payments made by pet owners from 1 July 2024.
• Both the old and new fee structures will be maintained on the CAR to allow councils to correct registration details for existing records and catch up on data entry backlogs (i.e. where fees have been receipted before 1 July 2024 but not entered on the Register).

Where to go for further information

• A list of registration categories, current fees and the new fees for 2024/25 is provided on the Office of Local Government’s (OLG) website at www.olg.nsw.gov.au/public/dogs-cats/nsw-pet-registry/microchipping-and-registration.
• Information relating to the processing of registration fees is available in Companion Animals Guideline 1 – Registration Agents, available on OLG’s website at www.olg.nsw.gov.au/councils/responsible-pet-ownership/nsw-pet-registry/the-cat-and-dog-register.
• Information on the new functionality and separate payments for registration and the additional fee for non-desexed animals that are not exempt can be found by contacting Pet Helpline 1300 134 460.
• Contact pets@olg.nsw.gov.au for information about the fees.

Brett Whitworth

Deputy Secretary, Office of Local Government