Privacy

The NSW Pet Registry has been developed primarily to return lost pets to their owners and to promote responsible pet ownership in the community. The NSW Pet Registry is an online facility for cat and dog owners, NSW councils, Police, Veterinarians, inspectors, authorised enforcement officers and approved animal welfare organisations. The OLG administers the NSW Pet Registry and authorised officers of the OLG access the NSW Pet Registry for this purpose.

Cat and dog owners and breeders in NSW can use the NSW Pet Registry to update their own details, pay pet registration fees, transfer pet ownership and report their pet missing. Pet owners and breeders will only have access to their own details and the details of their pets.

Veterinarians and Authorised Identifiers (microchip implanters) will have access to add new cats and dogs to the NSW Pet Registry and registration information about their owners. Veterinarians and Approved Persons (usually vet nurses and approved animal welfare organisation staff) will only have access to registration information to return a lost pet to their owner.

Authorised users in NSW councils may access information to return lost pets to their owners. Councils may register cats and dogs on behalf of owners, update registration information when necessary and record compliance information relevant under the Companion Animals Act 1998.

Registration agents (organisations managing council pounds) may access the NSW Pet Registry to return a lost pet to their owner, register cats and dogs on behalf of owners, update information when necessary and record compliance information relevant under the Companion Animals Act 1998.

Inspectors and enforcement officers authorised under the Companion Animals Act 1998 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 may access information on the NSW Pet Registry to undertake lawful investigations

When you look at the pages on the NSW Pet Registry, our computers automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:

When you browse the NSW Pet Registry, OLG logs the following information for statistical purposes:

• the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine that has accessed it;
• Your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc);
• The address of your server;
• The date and time of your visit to the site;
• The search engine used to locate the site
• The pages accessed and any documents downloaded
• The type of browser and operating system you have used.
• Changes made; and

The information collected during each visit is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for OLG to identify patterns of usage of the site. This will assist us in improving the NSW Pet Registry website.

The OLG will not try to identify users or their browsing activities, except in the event of a lawful investigation by a law enforcement agency. OLG will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual machines, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with the New South Wales Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

Collection and Use by Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a reporting service provided by Google Inc. (‘Google’) and its subsidiaries. Google Analytics uses ‘cookies’ to help analyse how users navigate the website. The information generated by cookies about your use of the website (including the information listed above) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity. Google may also transfer this information to third parties, where required to do so by law or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf.

Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser. Please note, however, if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. For more details visit Google Analytics Terms of Service.

When you register a dog or cat the NSW Pet Registry records information about you, your pet and your property. The details you enter are displayed on screen. This information is required under the Companion Animals Act 1998.

Your identity is verified through a Document Verification Service (DVS) by verifying your personal identity number details (Driver’s Licence or Medicare Card or Passport numbers). These numbers are not stored on the NSW Pet Registry or DVS, and are only used to confirm your identity when you create your personal profile.

Other information relating to your property is obtained from NSW Land and Property Information (LPI). This information includes your property’s unique identifier, location coordinates, local government area and Australia Post Delivery Point Identifier. This information is used to verify your identity and address.

You can obtain further information about the collection and use of your personal information in the NSW Pet Registry Privacy Collection Notice.

All the information you enter and information obtained from the LPI during registration is made available to authorised officers of your local council or a registration agent acting on their behalf. Veterinarians and approved persons who are authorised users, may access necessary registration information for the purposes of returning a lost a pet with their owner. Authorised Officers of the OLG can access the information to administer the NSW Pet Registry.

The Companion Animals Act permits a person’s personal information in their NSW Pet Register profile to be suppressed if the user is concerned that disclosure of their personal information could jeopardise their safety or the safety of any member of their family. A person seeking to have their personal information in their profile suppressed should contact the Office by email at [email protected] to arrange this. Further information about suppression of records is available in the Guideline on the Exercise of Functions under the Companion Animals Act available on the Office of Local Government (OLG) website.

The OLG reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant NSW local councils and law enforcement agencies where this is required by law or is otherwise part of a lawful investigation.

The OLG also reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the NSW Pet Registry raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been committed. In the event of an investigation, OLG will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.

Unauthorised access, use or disclosure of confidential information from the NSW Pet Registry is an offence under Section 89 of the Companion Animals Act. The maximum penalty for breach of this section is 100 penalty units.

Further information in regard to the use and disclosure of personal information is available in the Guideline on the Exercise of Functions under the Companion Animals Act available on the the Office of Local Government (OLG) website.

We may store your information in hard copy or electronic format, in storage facilities that we own and operate ourselves, or that are owned and operated by our service providers. We take the privacy and security of your information seriously and we are committed to maintaining the security of your information under our control. We use a combination of technical solutions, security controls and internal processes to help us protect your information and our network from unauthorised access and disclosure.

While we take steps to maintain the security of your information, you should be aware of the range of information security risks that exist today and take appropriate care to help safeguard your information.

The OLG acknowledges and embraces the developing nature of online communication to the extent it enhances the provision of its services. The OLG may modify this statement from time to time to accommodate these developments. This statement was last modified on 27 May 2024.