Second Reading – Domestic Animals Amendment (Rehoming Cats and Dogs and Other Matters) Bill 2025

Jade Benham interjected.

Kim O’KEEFFE: The member for Mildura said, ‘That’s not a surprise.’ My family are very aware of it. I do like to walk in the mornings, and I pick my routes. But in saying that, we have always had a family dog. We had Kirk, who was my mum’s dog, and our dog, who was Kirk’s son and was named Dougie. So we had Kirk Douglas in the family, which was fun.

Jade Benham: Small dogs?

Kim O’KEEFFE: Yes, little Jack Russells. They were fine. We had Dougie as part of our family for 17 years. The girls grew up with their dog; they are part of your family. I think people that do not have pets or are not ‘pet people’ – even though I am frightened of dogs, I do love family pets. I love them in the house and at home just for the company they bring. I think when you have children it teaches them to also care for something other than themselves, particularly when they get to be teenagers. I just think it is such a beautiful environment, to have a pet. For me, walking the dog – I miss our little Dougie. I used to walk him every morning and just have that routine and that little bit of support and connection. My daughter has two dogs. I do not have any grandchildren yet, but I have little grandbaby pets. We have got Maxi and Betty, and they are Maltese-Shih tzus, so they are they are quite fun. I am not scared of those dogs, but if I am on the street, I am very nervous if I see a dog coming.

Getting back to the bill, it has been great to hear people’s stories. I have a couple of elderly people that I visit that also have pets. I have a friend, and without her little dog sitting there, I am sure she would be quite lonely. I think that comfort is a factor. I think this bill is important when we think about that. We need to make sure that pets are always really cared for and that they are placed in the right care, where they are loved and nurtured. This is a bill for an act to amend the Domestic Animals Act 1994 to provide for an authorisation scheme for pet rehoming organisations to assist those organisations to rehome cats and dogs; to further provide for councils to be informed about animals in foster care in their municipality; to provide for the collection of information about the outcome of efforts to rehome dogs and cats; and to clarify the powers of authorised officers in relation to entering premises for certain purposes. The government provides that the forced commencement date is in more than 12 months in order to allow for a transitional period and for stakeholders in the industry to apply for inclusion in the proposed new scheme the bill presents and for the development of regulations to support the new framework the bill proposes.

Back in 2016, which has been raised today, under the then Andrews government, the Domestic Animals Amendment (Puppy Farms and Pet Shops) Bill 2016 was introduced to Parliament. It included amendments to enable voluntary registration of community foster carers for dogs and cats through their local council. At the time, concerns were raised by community foster carers, the Municipal Association of Victoria and the wider community that such a voluntary registration system had not been based on consultation with the relevant stakeholders and would create an excessive administrative burden not only on community foster carers but also councils. Following this bill back in 2016, an inquiry was established to examine these concerns raised and other issues relating to the impact of the bill. When the Economy and Infrastructure Standing Committee in the other place tabled its final report, it recommended to the government at the time that the bill be withdrawn and a stakeholder group be established to consult on the drafting of a new bill. The amendments made through this bill before the house may not have been required, perhaps, if the findings and recommendations of the committee had been adopted by the government more than nine years ago.

This bill largely follows the Taskforce on Rehoming Pets, which tabled its final report to the government in December 2021, during the last Parliament. It was established to investigate and provide recommendations to the government on how to improve pet welfare, particularly pet rehoming pathways and survival rates. As we all know in this place, pet rescue, rehoming and foster care groups provide valuable and essential animal care, rehabilitation and rehoming service. I want to thank them for the amazing work that they do. They offer an important service in efforts to reduce the number of dogs and cats in the state’s shelter and pound system effectively. Many of these groups are run by volunteers, and we do not want to restrict their ability to continue their great work. There have been some concerns raised, and I will get to those in a minute.

It is also a go-to place for many people who want to have a special pet who may need extra care. I have a brother; he and his wife do not have children, and over the years they have always got their dogs from a rescue centre. Our family always say that that dog has won the dog lottery because they literally get so looked after and are so loved and cared for. The last one they had, little Lolly, was a Chihuahua. She had trauma due to being abused and had massive trust issues. What they did with that little dog was astounding, providing her with the love and care that every pet deserves. She did recently pass away, and they are still getting over her loss, but I know that they are definitely going to go to another service for a rescue dog. All pets, as I said, deserve a safe space and to be protected and cared for.

The Victorian pet census, which was held in July 2023, found that cat owners were more likely to get their cats from a rehoming organisation, around 28 per cent, or an animal shelter, 22 per cent, with the main reason for choosing them to help save the animals. For dogs, fewer were obtained from a rehoming organisation, as low as 17 per cent, or from an animal shelter, 6 per cent.

The taskforce’s final report included a total of 17 recommendations to the government, and since this time the government has committed to implementing all 17. But what we are debating here today delivers on five recommendations, mainly the establishment of an authorisation scheme for pet rehoming organisations to assist their services in rehoming our dogs and cats. This new framework the bill proposes will be voluntary, not mandatory, for such organisations to apply to the secretary to be authorised. As we have seen in the past, like the voluntary community foster care registration system, the uptake has been very low, and only a few councils have been offering registration to approximately 50 registered community fosterers. It has left thousands of community foster carers right across the state being unable to access discounted pet registration fees. As such, authorisation under this bill will be granted to organisations subject to certain conditions imposed by the secretary and prescribed in regulations, which must remain in place for no longer than three years. An organisation can apply to renew its authorisation after this time.

As mentioned, this new scheme will be voluntary for organisations, with benefits to be offered to incentivise their participation. If an organisation or group does not wish to become an authorised organisation, they will still be able to operate, but they will not be able to access the benefits that are provided to those who are authorised. The bill provides for the state government to undertake the administrative, regulatory and compliance functions for the new scheme. Regulations pending the bill’s passage will set out the additional requirements that authorised organisations must meet, such as reporting the location of animals under their care, mandatory preadoption activities like desexing and vaccination and reporting of animal data to the government. These requirements are important, because not only will they improve overall animal welfare outcomes for cats and dogs in the sector, but they will also enable such organisations to demonstrate the highest standards of animal management and care.

One of the concerns raised by the industry stakeholders during the taskforce’s inquiry of work was possible barriers to regulation. As noted in the taskforce’s final report, whilst there was support for regulation, there were many potential barriers to implementing the regulation. Groups shared with the taskforce that they are concerned about the administrative and resource burden a new regulatory framework will place on them, as well as any increases to regulatory requirements that will reduce their capacity and resources to care for animals.

It was also noted that across the sector existing regulatory frameworks are not fit for purpose. Whilst this new authorisation scheme that the bill proposes I am sure, given its voluntary nature, will be welcomed across the sector for not burdening it by this additional regulatory framework being proposed, there is still some work to be done. It gives organisations and groups the option, as we said, for participating or not.

The bill also sees the repeal of the current voluntary foster care registration scheme from the Domestic Animals Act as the government provides there has been a low uptake of the scheme since its introduction back in 2017. Instead the new authorisation scheme will seek to centralise animal foster carer activities under authorised and regulated rehoming organisations where they are an authorised pet rehoming organisation or an animal shelter or pound. Foster carers will continue to play an important role in the dog and cat rehoming process, but the amendments the bill proposes will seek to alleviate the regulatory and administrative burden that volunteer foster carers face and recognise the role pet rehoming organisations play in their communities. There is no doubt that the current community foster carer registration system does not work, and the opportunity to register as a community foster carer is appreciated by the sector, we just need to get it right.

In my final minute I would just like to read a concern I got from Jeanette, who actually writes on behalf of the Gumtree Greys board and Victoria’s domestic animal rescue and rehoming sector with some of her concerns in regard to this bill, which she did request that I would perhaps look at and raise. There are some relevant concerns there:

Mandatory council notifications within 7 business days for each foster placement, change of address, or adoption could mean 3–9+ notifications per dog …

which could lead to anything up to $600 in fines if they do not follow the right processes.

Linking government funding to compliance while removing the reduced fee will drive smaller volunteer groups out of existence, while large organisations with paid staff will benefit.

That was one of her major concerns. So whilst we are not opposing the bill, we do have some concerns with the bill.