Pets in a Queensland rental: the request, the reply, the conditions

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Kooky

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A dog, a cat or a pair of budgerigars is one of the most common reasons a Queensland tenant writes to a property manager in the middle of a lease. It is also one of the few requests where the law sets out the whole conversation in advance: the form the tenant uses, the number of days the owner has to answer, the only reasons that can support a refusal, and the conditions that can and cannot be attached to a yes.

Those rules sit in the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 and have applied since 1 October 2022, according to the Residential Tenancies Authority (the RTA), the State body that administers the Act. This guide follows a request from both sides of the desk. It covers the request, the reply, the grounds for refusal, the conditions, the separate decision of a body corporate, working dogs, rooming accommodation and caravan parks, damage, and the path a disagreement takes.

Residential Tenancies Authority fact sheet on renting with pets; Queensland Government guidance on animal by-laws, updated 18 May 2026.

Who needs approval, and for what animal

The starting point is simple. The RTA states that a tenant must have the written approval of the property manager or owner to keep a pet at the rental property. Keeping an animal without that approval is treated by the RTA as a significant breach of the tenancy agreement, with one exception covered later in this guide: a working dog.

The Act's idea of a pet is broad. The RTA describes a pet as a domesticated animal, or an animal that depends on a person for food or shelter. Two groups fall outside the definition: working dogs, and any animal excluded by regulation.

The tenancy Act is not the only set of rules. The RTA lists three others that can limit what may be kept: local council laws, which can cap the number or type of animals at an address; body corporate by-laws in units and townhouses; and the house rules or park rules that form part of some agreements. An owner's approval does not override any of them.

Before the tenancy and during it: two situations

A point that surprises many applicants is that the formal process applies only once a tenancy exists. The RTA says plainly that the Act does not set an approval process for pets at the application stage. A person applying for a home with a pet is negotiating, and the owner choosing between applicants is not answering a Form 21.

In practice the RTA suggests that an applicant disclose the pet on the rental application, and that an approved pet be written into the tenancy agreement: how many animals, of what type, and any special terms on matters such as indoor access, pest treatment or carpet cleaning when the tenancy ends.

Once the agreement is signed the position changes. A tenant who did not have a pet at the start, or who wants another one, has a right to ask through the statutory process, and the owner must answer within its limits. Tenants Queensland, the State's tenant advice service, adds that this holds even where an older agreement carries a "no pets" clause or where a request was refused in the past: a tenant may still make a request now, and the current rules on refusals and conditions apply to it. Permission that already exists continues, the same fact sheet says, and any old condition that conflicts with the current rules has no effect.

The request: Form 21, one per pet

The request is made on an RTA form called Request for approval to keep a pet in rental property, known as Form 21. The current version is dated May 2025 and cites sections 184D and 256D of the Act, the first for general tenancies and the second for rooming accommodation. The form is given to the property owner or manager, never to the RTA, and the tenant keeps a copy.

The form asks for the address, the tenants making the request and the owners receiving it. Then it asks about the animal: type, breed or species, name, microchip and registration numbers where there are any, sex, colour and coat length, and weight and size. An optional section invites the information that tends to decide a request in practice: the pet's age, temperament and training, why the property suits it, whether council rules and by-laws allow it, and whether it will live inside, outside or in an enclosure. Photos of the animal and of any enclosure may be attached.

Two instructions on the form matter more than they look. The first is that a separate form is completed for each pet, so a tenant asking for two cats sends two forms and the owner answers each. The second concerns dates. The tenant records the day the request is sent and how it is sent, then writes in the date by which the owner must respond. A request sent by post has to allow time for delivery when that date is worked out; the form does not fix a number of days for the mail.

Fourteen days, and what silence means

The owner or manager must respond in writing within 14 days of receiving the request. According to the RTA, the response has to say two things: whether the request is approved or refused, and then either the conditions of the approval or the reason for the refusal.

The consequence of missing the deadline is what gives the process its force. If no response arrives within the 14 days, the RTA states that the request is taken as approved. The same result follows where a response does arrive but does not comply with the Act. Tenants Queensland gives the common case: a refusal that states no reason, or that does not explain how the reason applies to the request in hand, is also taken to be an approval.

For a property manager, this makes the pet request a dated task and not a letter to answer when convenient. The RTA publishes a response template for lessors to help structure a compliant answer. For the tenant, the lesson is to keep evidence of the day the form was given and of how it was given, because the whole calculation starts there.

An approval, once given or deemed, lasts. The RTA says it continues for the life of the approved pet. It does not need to be sought again when the agreement is renewed or extended for the same property, and it is not affected by a change of owner or of managing agency. It is an approval of that animal, though; a new or replacement pet is a new request.

The grounds on which an owner may refuse

An owner who does not want the pet cannot simply say so. The Act lists the grounds, and a refusal has to rest on one of them. The table sets out the grounds as the RTA's fact sheet presents them.

Several of these grounds turn on the particular animal and the particular home, which is why the optional section of Form 21 is worth the effort. The damage ground is tied to a measure: the question is whether likely damage could practicably be put right for less than the bond, and a general worry about scratched floors does not answer it.

The requirement to explain is the part most often missed. The RTA says the refusal must give the specific reason and say how it applies to the tenant or to the stated pet. Naming a ground from the list without connecting it to the facts leaves the reply open to challenge, and whether a given explanation is enough depends on the case.

Conditions an owner may attach, and those that are void

Between a plain yes and a refusal sits the conditional approval, which is how many requests end. The RTA sets two tests for a condition: it must relate only to the tenant keeping the pet at the property, and it must be reasonable having regard to the type of pet and the nature of the property. Conditions have to be stated in the written approval.

The Act then removes certain conditions altogether. A condition that would breach the Act or amount to an offence is, in the RTA's words, null and void. The most important of these for both sides: an owner cannot make approval depend on more rent, on a larger bond or on any other security. Queensland has no pet bond.

The cleaning and fumigation conditions deserve a closer look, because they are where end-of-tenancy arguments start. An owner may require the work to be done to a professional standard, but may not name the company that does it. The RTA explains professional standard as the result a cleaning or fumigation business would ordinarily achieve, usually with commercial equipment and products. If the standard is disputed, the RTA notes that it is the tenant who has to show it was met, so a receipt or a dated record of the work is useful.

Refusing to agree to reasonable conditions is itself a ground for refusal of the pet. Whether a particular condition is reasonable for a particular animal and home is a question of fact.

Units and townhouses: the body corporate's separate decision

In a unit or townhouse there are two decision-makers. The owner decides under the tenancy Act; the body corporate decides under its by-laws. The RTA warns that a breach of the by-laws is also a breach of the tenancy agreement, so a tenant needs both answers to be yes.

Queensland Government guidance on animal by-laws, updated on 18 May 2026, sets out the body corporate side for schemes under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act. A by-law that simply prohibits animals is invalid, the guidance says, and where a scheme has no animal by-law at all, no permission is needed, although other by-laws such as those on noise still apply. Most schemes have a by-law requiring a written request, sent to the secretary or to an authorised body corporate manager. A standard form exists for it, BCCM form 31, although a scheme may have its own.

The body corporate may refuse only on stated grounds, which the guidance lists: an unacceptable risk that reasonable conditions cannot manage; a law that forbids keeping the animal; a regulated dog under the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008; unreasonable interference with another occupier or with native wildlife that conditions cannot manage; or an applicant who will not agree to reasonable conditions.

The two clocks do not match, and that creates a practical trap. A committee has 21 days; an owner has 14. Where a request must go to a general meeting instead of the committee, the guidance says the animal is deemed approved if a meeting is not called within 21 days of the request, or if no decision is made within six weeks after the meeting notice is sent. The RTA addresses the gap directly: an owner may refuse a request if the 14 days are about to end and the body corporate has not yet responded. If the committee approves afterwards, the tenant can apply to the owner again with evidence of that approval.

For that reason the order of the two requests matters; which to send first depends on the scheme and its by-laws. A tenant unhappy with a committee's refusal can take it to the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management, which handles it through conciliation.

Working dogs and assistance animals

Working dogs stand outside the whole process. The RTA lists them as assistance dogs, guide dogs and hearing dogs within the meaning of the Guide, Hearing and Assistance Dogs Act 2009, together with corrective services dogs and police dogs. A tenant may keep a working dog without the owner's approval. The RTA recommends telling the property manager or owner all the same.

The same applies on the body corporate side: the Queensland Government guidance says a person with a disability who relies on a guide, hearing or assistance dog does not need the body corporate's permission to have the dog on scheme land.

The edges of this exception need care. The Queensland scheme named by the RTA is about dogs that meet the definitions in the listed Acts. An animal that gives comfort or companionship but does not meet those definitions is, for the tenancy Act, a pet, and the ordinary request applies. Federal law uses a wider term: the Australian Human Rights Commission describes an assistance animal under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 as a dog or other animal that is accredited or trained to assist a person with disability and meets standards of hygiene and behaviour. How discrimination law applies to a particular animal in a particular rental depends on the case, and the RTA refers questions about possible discrimination to the Queensland Human Rights Commission.

Rooming accommodation and caravan parks

The pet rules are not limited to houses and units under a general tenancy agreement. The RTA states that the framework applies to general tenancies, moveable dwellings and rooming accommodation alike. The differences are in the detail.

In rooming accommodation, such as a boarding house or student accommodation, the request goes to the provider, and the person asking is a resident. The same Form 21 is used, under section 256D. Two features stand out. House rules are part of the agreement and may restrict pets, and a breach of house rules is a ground for refusal; the RTA advises residents to check with the provider or manager first. And among the conditions the RTA gives as reasonable is one specific to this setting: that the pet be kept in the resident's room.

For moveable dwellings, meaning caravans and similar homes in a park, park rules play the role that house rules play in a boarding house, and a pet that would contravene them can be refused. There is also a ground that exists only here: the request may be refused if keeping the pet would breach a condition of a licence that applies to the premises. The RTA suggests that park residents ask the park manager or owner what the rules say before making a request.

Damage, nuisance and the end of the tenancy

An approval does not shift responsibility for what the animal does. The RTA says the tenant is responsible for nuisance caused by a pet, such as noise, and for damage. Form 21 has the tenant acknowledge this when asking.

The rule with the most money attached is about fair wear and tear. A tenant ordinarily hands a property back in the condition it was in at the start, apart from fair wear and tear. The RTA states that damage caused by a pet or other animal is not fair wear and tear under the Act.

This is where the pet rules meet the bond. There is no separate pet bond, so any claim for pet damage is made against the ordinary rental bond in the ordinary way, and anything beyond the bond is a claim for compensation. How bonds are lodged, claimed and refunded is the subject of a separate guide. What matters here is the evidence: the entry condition report, the exit condition report, and receipts for any cleaning or fumigation required by a condition of the approval.

During the tenancy, a pet that causes a nuisance or damage is dealt with as a breach of the agreement. Tenants Queensland describes the sequence: the owner issues a notice to remedy breach, which gives the tenant seven days to fix the problem, and if it is not fixed a notice to leave for an unremedied breach may follow. Where a pet is kept with no approval at all, the same service says the tenant can expect a breach notice and must either remove the animal or seek approval. If approval is then refused on a valid ground, the animal has to go.

Where a disagreement goes

A disagreement may be about a refusal, a condition, or a claim for damage or cleaning when the tenancy ends. The RTA encourages the two sides to try to agree directly. If that fails, the RTA runs a free and impartial dispute resolution service, in which a conciliator helps the parties reach their own agreement; an agreement reached there is written down and, as Tenants Queensland notes, can be enforced by the tribunal.

If conciliation does not settle the matter, either side may apply to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Tenants Queensland explains that a dispute over a pet refusal is classed as non-urgent, which means the RTA step has to come first: the RTA issues a notice of unresolved dispute, and its number goes on the tribunal application. The tribunal can decide that a refusal is not valid, in which case the tenant may keep the pet.

Body corporate decisions take the other path, through the commissioner's office and its conciliation process, and the tenancy tribunal does not review them.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Queensland Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for Queensland property professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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