Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act amendments a welcome start to modernising New South Wales laws but the job is not done

SYDNEY (May 8, 2026)—Amendments to the NSW Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1979) tabled by the Minns Government contain some welcome progress for animal welfare in the state but ultimately fall short of expectations for more comprehensive reform. 

Welcome in the bill are provisions that will make it illegal to leave dogs unattended in hot vehicles and on hot metal trays, and to make the use and possession of painful dog prong collars an offence. The bill also introduces a requirement to provide pain relief when mulesing lambs, and strengthens laws to prevent the use of animals for fighting.  

Humane World for Animals Australia’s Campaign Director, Nicola Beynon said: “We will always welcome improvements to animal cruelty legislation that prevent suffering. But we have been expecting more comprehensive reform to the aging Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, as was committed to at the last election.  

“Today’s amendments are a retreat on previous reforms to modernise the framework of the Act which were proposed by the former Coalition government. The former government had been consulting on a new Animal Protection Bill which would have recognized animal sentience, installed a duty of care for all animals and increased the definition of ‘animal’ to include octopuses, crabs, and lobsters. 

“The people of NSW care about animals and expect them to be benefiting from best practice modern animal welfare laws. Today’s amendments from the Government are very welcome but they are playing catch up on practices that should have been banned a long time ago. Today’s changes are not the full modernisation of the state’s animal welfare legislation that animals in NSW deserve. We look forward to working with the Government towards more systemic and structural reform of animal welfare governance in the state.” 
 

ENDS