Australia is celebrated worldwide as a nation of pet lovers, yet we find ourselves trailing behind other countries when it comes to being considered a ‘pet friendly’ country and being able to travel freely with our furry friends.

Despite 69% of Australian households owning a pet, in many states and territories our pets are currently not allowed on public transport or all domestic airlines, limiting their mobility and causing distress to both pets and their owners. 

We are campaigning for transport operators and ministers to update their regulations to allow pets on transport to alleviate the pressures on pet parents and create a more inclusive Australia.

In many other regions, including the United States and Europe, pets are allowed on public transport under certain conditions. It's about time that Australia follows suit.

While it's true that some progress has been made, with Victoria leading the charge by allowing pets on selected transport, we can't stop there. Every pet parent in every corner of our country deserves the right to travel with their furry companions.

All paws on board!


Why it’s important

Allowing pets on transport holds so many key benefits that positively impact both pet parents and the wider community:

• Offers crucial support to pet owners who don’t have access to or can't drive a car including people with a disability and the elderly. This would break down the barrier to access services like vets, grooming, and pet care improving the health and well-being of pets.
• Reduces pet owners’ reliance on cars benefits the climate, cutting traffic congestion and carbon emissions as fewer people need to drive with their pets.
• Supports return-to-office initiatives, like pet-friendly offices, making it easier for people to bring their pets to work.
• Pet travel on planes and public transport boosts the economy by encouraging exploration of new regions across Australia.
• Helps families save on parking, ride-share and car-share services, and pet relocation services when travelling with pets amidst rising living costs.
• Pet travel with owners contributes to mental health benefits associated with pet companionship.
• And less time isolated at home is better for pets, especially those with anxiety.

The solution

We understand that there may be concerns about disruptions caused by animals. We also don’t want pets loose on transport, as that is just as dangerous for the pet as it is for passengers.

These issues can be easily addressed through specific guidelines, such as, designated areas for passengers with pets, requirements for dogs, cats and small pets (like bunnies) to be in carriers and larger dogs to be restrained on a lead with a safe muzzle like basket muzzles as well as socialised to animals and other people, only allowing one animal per person for responsible handling, designated toilet areas for pets at airports, requirements to carry bags/wipes for accidents, and required distances between pets or limits on the number of pets (excluding assistance animals) on certain types of transport like buses. 

We can also learn from places like Victoria, Auckland, Berlin, Paris and San Francisco which provide pet friendly public transport options. In Victoria, small pets are allowed on trains, trams and buses in a carrier and larger dogs can travel on trains with a lead and muzzle. We could also look to run trials like they did in Auckland before updating regulations.

Furthermore, we propose providing online training resources created by pet behaviourists and vets to support pet owners to help manage their pets' behaviour whilst travelling.

We applaud Virgin Australia for leading the way in allowing pets in cabins on domestic trips in Australia in 2025, and hope other local airlines soon follow suit.

It's important that we create uniform regulations for pets on transport and cohesive laws nationwide. By legislating regulations, we ensure consistency, clarity, and ease of compliance for pet owners, transport operators, and authorities.

See all the current regulations for pets on transport in Australia and how other cities manage pet friendly transport. 

See our FAQs with questions asked by our community.

Check out our Pet Circle Vet Squad’s article on how to safely travel with your pets on transport.

How you can help 

• We need your help to petition transport operators and state Transport Ministers and their Departments to make this change so our pets can accompany us on our travels. Sign this petition and we will send this to each minister and transport operator if we can get over 10,000 signatures.
• Take a photo of your dog, cat or small pet with a pawtest sign and post it on your social media with #petsontransport to show your support and encourage others to sign our pawtition

SUPPORTERS:

PLEASE NOTE: Pet Circle is not asking you to donate money to this campaign.

Change.org offers the opportunity to donate money to help promote petitions hosted on their site.

Pet Circle is committed to driving positive change on issues that matter to Australians, and we want to show that the community supports our causes through signatures. This is a petition, not a fundraiser.

We appreciate and thank everyone who has donated, but Pet Circle is in no way asking you to donate and is not receiving any funds from change.org from this campaign.