Pets and the NSW Pet Registry when you move

Moving within NSW

OLG says NSW law requires owners of cats and dogs to keep both their own details and their pet’s information current on the NSW Pet Registry, and that a change of contact details has to be made there too. For a move, the detail that changes is the address where your pet normally lives.

• Online. Update the details with a NSW Pet Registry account, or visit your local council.
• On paper. If you cannot use the online service, OLG says you can use the C3C Change of details form to notify council, inside 14 days from the change. The form itself says to take it, completed and signed, to your local council within 14 days of the change, and that changing your details costs nothing.
• A stay somewhere else. The Registry sets a pet’s primary address to your home address by default. OLG says a pet kept at a different address, even for a short time, needs its location updated on the Registry to stay within NSW law.
• Leaving NSW. The C3C form says that if you have moved out of NSW, you email or post it to your previous NSW council.

What the law says

The 14 days come from the Companion Animals Act 1998 itself. Section 11(1) reads, in part:

The Regulation narrows section 11(1) for some pets that are not yet on the Registry: clause 38(4) says it “does not apply to the owner of a category 3 or category 4 companion animal if the identification information for the animal has not been entered on the Register”. A category 4 animal is one identified with a recognised microchip outside NSW, and a category 3 animal one voluntarily microchipped before 1 October 2001. Registering a pet from outside NSW is covered below.

For an owner who does not notify under section 11(1), the Act sets a maximum penalty of “8 penalty units except in the case of a dangerous, menacing or restricted dog”, or “50 penalty units in the case of a dangerous, menacing or restricted dog”.

The address is part of that information. Clause 8 of the Companion Animals Regulation 2018 sets out “the identification information for companion animals for the purposes of the Act”, and item (e) is “the address of the place at which the animal is ordinarily kept”. Clause 22(a) makes that identification information part of a pet’s registration information.

Clause 38 says how the notice is given. A death is notified by telephone or in writing in the approved form; any other notice “is to be given in writing using the form authorised by the Departmental Chief Executive”; and either may be given to a registration agent, which each council is, as a way of giving it to the Departmental Chief Executive. An owner authorised to access the Register may instead record the change online in the Register. The Register itself is administered by OLG.

Moving to the Coast from interstate or overseas

A pet born and microchipped interstate or overseas is not on the NSW Pet Registry, and OLG says that once you and your pet are living in NSW, its steps must be followed to register.

1. Have proof of ownershipOLG wants you to be able to show that the cat or dog is currently yours. OLG says this can include:
   • a registration certificate issued by another state or country
   • a receipt from the purchase that shows the microchip number and names you as the owner
   • papers recording a change of ownership.
2. Have the microchip verifiedHave an authorised identifier, a vet for example, check and confirm the microchip number. They record it on the Verification of existing microchip (M1) form.
3. Take the paperwork to your local councilOLG lists what to submit:
   • the completed M1 form
   • the relevant proof of ownership, after checking your council’s requirements
   • a desexing certificate, if there is one
   • the completed Pet Registration R2 form
   • the fee for registration.

The M1 form adds two things. It goes to council with a statutory declaration, plus any documents that back it up, and it does not register the pet by itself: the R2 form and the fee do that. Under the Regulation, a person under 18 cannot be a pet’s registered owner.

Central Coast Council’s part

Under the Regulation, each council is a registration agent. On the Coast, Council says its Rangers offer a check-your-chip and update-your-chip service at its Pet Pop-Ups, with dates and places in its What’s On calendar. Council also works with the Animal Care Facilities at Charmhaven and Erina to get lost pets home again.

The short version

Within NSW, change the address where your pet normally lives within 14 days, online or with the C3C form at council, at no cost. From outside NSW, gather proof of ownership, have a vet or other authorised identifier verify the chip on the M1 form, and register at council with the R2 form and the fee. The rest of the move is in the other labels: the water account, power and gas, bulky waste and the road reserve.