Dangerous and Restricted Dog Laws in Australia

A federal regulation absolutely bans importing five dog breeds into Australia, and New South Wales and Victoria both build a breed-based "restricted dog" category on top of that list, but Queensland has no equivalent breed-based category at all.

Information last verified on 21 July 2026 against the primary legislation and, where noted, the relevant government agency page. This page presents general legal information, not legal advice.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers the federal import ban and the dangerous or restricted dog category structures in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, verified 21 July 2026 against the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 (Cth), the Companion Animals Act 1998 (NSW), the Domestic Animals Act 1994 (Vic) and the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008 (Qld). It does not cover every state and territory's system, or the detailed control and enclosure conditions imposed on an individual declared dog.

The federal starting point: five breeds banned from import

Australia's dangerous and restricted dog framework starts with a single federal rule that applies the same way in every state and territory: importing certain dog breeds into Australia is absolutely prohibited, with no permit available. Item 26 of Schedule 1 to the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 (Cth) lists five breeds: the dogo Argentino, the fila Brasileiro, the Japanese tosa, the American pit bull terrier (or pit bull terrier), and the Perro de Presa Canario (or Presa Canario). This import ban does not, by itself, regulate ownership of a dog of one of these breeds already in Australia; that is left to each state and territory's own companion animal legislation, which is where the real differences between jurisdictions begin.

New South Wales: a breed-based "restricted dog" category, plus extension mechanisms

Section 55 of the Companion Animals Act 1998 (NSW) defines "restricted dogs" for the purposes of the Act. The starting list matches the federal import ban breeds exactly (American pit bull terrier or pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino, Perro de Presa Canario or Presa Canario, fila Brasileiro), but the definition does not stop there. It extends automatically to "any other dog of a breed, kind or description" whose import is banned under the Commonwealth Customs Act, and it separately allows an authorised council officer to declare an individual dog a restricted dog under Division 6 of the Act, or the regulations to prescribe further breeds. An owner of a restricted dog in New South Wales is subject to specific control requirements under section 56, and restricted dogs cannot lawfully be sold, transferred, or bred, under sections 57A to 57C.

Victoria: "restricted breed dog," regulated separately from dangerous-dog declarations

Victoria's Domestic Animals Act 1994 uses a similarly structured breed-based category, called a "restricted breed dog," which the Act consistently treats as a separate legal concept from a behaviour-based dangerous-dog declaration. Section 17 is headed "Registration of dangerous and restricted breed dogs" and separately empowers a council to register a dangerous dog under subsection (1) and to register or renew registration of a restricted breed dog under subsection (1A), each with its own conditions. Before a council can register a restricted breed dog, the Act requires the dog to be desexed (subject to a narrow exception) and fitted with a prescribed permanent identification device. A dedicated Division of the Act (Division 3B) sets out further, restricted-breed-specific control requirements, including restraint conditions both on and off the owner's property and mandatory warning signage.

Queensland: a genuinely different structure, not just different terminology

Queensland is the outlier among the three states examined, and the difference is structural rather than a matter of naming. The Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008 (Qld) has no breed-based "restricted dog" category equivalent to New South Wales's or Victoria's. Instead, section 103A defines a "prohibited dog" narrowly, as a dog of a breed prohibited from import into Australia under the Commonwealth Customs Act, the same five breeds as the federal list, and expressly states that "a breed does not include a crossbreed," meaning a dog that is a mix involving one of the five breeds falls outside the prohibited-dog definition even though a purebred dog of that breed would not. Section 103B then makes it an offence, carrying a maximum penalty of 150 penalty units, to own or be a responsible person for a prohibited dog, subject to a reasonable-excuse exception for a dog that is a recognised assistance animal. Separately from this narrow import-linked ban, Queensland regulates dangerous and menacing behaviour through its own behaviour-based "regulated dog" declaration system, which, as in the other states, applies regardless of the dog's breed.

Behaviour-based declarations exist alongside breed-based categories everywhere

Across all three states, a breed-based restricted or prohibited classification is a separate legal mechanism from a dangerous-dog or menacing-dog declaration made because of how a specific dog has actually behaved (such as attacking a person or another animal, or acting in a way that causes a reasonable apprehension of injury). A dog of any breed can be declared dangerous or menacing under the relevant behaviour-based provisions, and a dog that is not one of the federally banned breeds is not automatically exempt from that separate process. Both systems can, in principle, apply to the same dog.

What this page does not cover

This page explains the category structure in three states; it does not set out every specific control, enclosure, muzzling, insurance or signage requirement that applies once a dog is declared restricted, prohibited or dangerous in a given state, which can be detailed and council-specific. An owner of a dog that may fall into one of these categories should check the specific requirements published by their state agency and local council directly, and consider advice from a legal practitioner if a declaration or an offence is in issue.

This page is general legal information about everyday law in Australia, verified on 21 July 2026. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover every situation. For advice about your own circumstances, consult a legal practitioner admitted in the relevant Australian state or territory.