Even though parties may consider a family pet to be a member of the family, the Family Law Act 1975 (Family Law Act) considers pets to be property.

The term used for a family pet in the Family Law Act is a companion animal.

A companion animal means an animal kept by the parties to a marriage or either of them, or the parties to a de facto relationship or either of them, primarily for the purpose of companionship, but does not include:

• an assistance animal within the meaning of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992; or
• an animal kept as part of a business; or
• an animal kept for agricultural purposes; or
• an animal kept for use in laboratory tests or experiments.

If you make an application for financial or property orders, you can seek orders about who should own a family pet.

The Court can only make an order that:

1. one party is to own the family pet;
2. Ownership of the family pet be transferred to another person who consents to the transfer of ownership;
3. the family pet be sold.

The Court cannot make orders for the shared care of a family pet.

In considering what order the Court should make (if any) about a family pet, the Court will consider any of the following factors that are relevant:

• the circumstances in which the pet was acquired;
• who has ownership or possession of the pet;
• the extent to which each party cared for, and paid for the maintenance of, the pet;
• any family violence to which one party has subjected or exposed the other party;
• any history of actual or threatened cruelty or abuse by a party towards the pet;
• any attachment by a party, or a child of the marriage, to the pet;
• the demonstrated ability of each party to care for and maintain the pet in the future, without support or involvement from the other party;
• any other fact or circumstance which, in the opinion of the court, the justice of the case requires to be taken into account.

If you agree about who should retain ownership of the family pet, you can include that order in the financial or property orders you seek and file an Application for Consent Orders. For more information, see Financial or property: We have agreed

If you cannot agree about who should own the family pet, see Financial or property: We cannot agree

If you file an Initiating Application (Family Law) and the financial or property orders you seek are about a family pet, there are less documents you need to file. For more information, see Family Law Practice Direction: Financial or property proceedings

Last updated: 10 June 2025

The Family Law Amendment Act 2024 was passed by the Australian Parliament on 10 December 2024.

From 10 June 2025, the Family Law Act 1975 includes changes to the law about:

• how the courts will determine a property settlement
• what the courts will consider when determining a property settlement. This includes the economic effect of any family violence, where relevant.

These changes apply to all separating couples, whether their property settlement is determined by the courts, or they are negotiating outside of court.

You can find preliminary information in the Attorney-General’s Department factsheet:

• Family law (property) changes from 10 June 2025: Fact sheet for separating couples
• Family law changes from June 2025: Information for family law professionals

What is changing?

The Amendment Act makes significant changes to the framework for resolving the property and financial aspects of relationship breakdown in the Family Law Act 1975.

The key changes that will impact couples seeking to resolve their property and financial matters include:

• making clear that the effect of family violence is a relevant consideration in determining the division of property and finances following breakdown of a relationship
• expressly capturing ‘economic or financial abuse’ within the definition of family violence, and identifying dowry abuse as an example of conduct that might constitute economic or financial abuse
• specifying the approach the family law courts will take when making decisions about the division of property
• providing a new framework for determining ownership of the family pet in property settlements
• providing the family law courts the discretion to use the less adversarial approach in property and financial matters, to enhance their ability to direct proceedings and manage evidence particularly where there may be family violence
• elevating the duties of financial disclosure from the family law rules into the Family Law Act, to support parties to better understand their obligations and improve compliance.

It also makes a range of other changes to enhance the operation of Australia’s family law system, including to safeguard sensitive information in family law proceedings.

When do the changes start?

Most of the changes will commence on 10 June 2025, including changes to the framework for resolving the property and financial aspects of relationship breakdown. The property changes will apply to new and existing proceedings, except where a final hearing has commenced.

The following changes commenced on 11 December 2024:

• Schedule 3, Part 3 - Commonwealth Information Orders
• Schedule 3, Part 4 – Operation of section 69GA
• Schedule 4, Part 2 – Court rule making power for Family Court of a State
• Schedule 4, Parts 3 and 4 – changes to the family law superannuation splitting framework.

Practice and procedure updates

5 June 2025 - Practice and procedure update: Family law Rules

3 June 2025 - Practice and procedure update: Family law Practice Directions

26 May 2025 - Practice and procedure update: Family law form updates

Related links

Attorney General’s Department – www.ag.gov.au

You can find information about family law and these amendments on the Attorney-General’s Department website:

https://www.ag.gov.au/families-and-marriage/families/family-law-system

National FLPN Webinar 1 of 3: 'Overview of changes to the Family Law Act: from June 2025 (YouTube)

National FLPN Webinar 2 of 3:  'Overview of changes to the Family Law Act' (YouTube)

National FLPN Webinar 3 of 3: 'Overview of changes to the Family Law Act' (YouTube)

AG's Media release - Landmark family law reforms commence

Federal Register of Legislation – www.legislation.gov.au

The new legislation is available on the Federal Register of Legislation:

• Family Law Amendment Act 2024

Australian Parliament House – www.aph.gov.au

The accompanying explanatory materials for these amendments are available from the Australian Parliament House website: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r7234