What Tasmania's new rental pet rules mean in practice

The ground shifted under Tasmanian tenancies on 20 March 2026. The Residential Tenancy Amendment (Pets) Act 2025, which took Royal Assent on 27 November 2025 and commenced by proclamation on 20 March 2026, swaps the old blanket "no pets" clause for a structured consent process. The provision that used to allow those clauses, section 64B of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997, is repealed. In its place sits a new Part 3C, built on formal requests, a hard 14-day window, and the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for anything contested.

For Hobart landlords and tenants, this is not a small tweak. Here's what the law actually says.

The 14-day window and how it works

A tenant who wants a pet makes a written request on an approved form. It has to name the animal and flag whether it's a dangerous or restricted breed dog under the Dog Control Act 2000.

From the day the owner receives that request, the clock is 14 days.

To refuse, the owner has to give written reasons and lodge a TASCAT application inside that same window. Miss either step within 14 days, and the law treats the owner as having consented. No grace period. No informal route.

Yes with conditions is allowed. An owner can consent on terms, as long as they're reasonable, tied to the specific pet, and agreed by the tenant. What the Act won't allow is any lift in rent or bond. Tasmania has no "pet bond." The standard bond, capped at four weeks' rent under the existing Act, is the only security you hold, and damage beyond reasonable wear and tear stays the tenant's responsibility under the Residential Tenancy Act 1997, same as any tenancy.

Any conditions worth setting, say professional cleaning at lease end or garden restoration, have to be agreed in writing inside the same 14 days.

What owners can still refuse, and on what grounds

This isn't automatic approval. Owners keep grounds to say no, though for most animals that means a TASCAT application.

TASCAT can weigh whether the pet would be a nuisance on the property or to the neighbours, cause damage beyond reasonable wear and tear, pose a safety risk to a person or animal, or clash with a conservation covenant on the land. It can also take account of any other ground it finds reasonable.

One refusal skips TASCAT: an owner can decline a dangerous dog in writing under the Dog Control Act 2000, no tribunal application needed.

Strata rules survive too. Where a by-law under the Strata Titles Act 1998, or a local government by-law, restricts pets, the new law doesn't override it. In a strata building, check what your by-laws allow.

The Act reaches the application stage as well. An owner can't unreasonably knock back a rental application just because the applicant has flagged they'll want a pet.

What changes for existing arrangements

Two transitional points matter if you've got a lease in place.

Any clause in a current agreement banning all pets is no longer enforceable. Section 64B propped those up, and it's gone. A clause like that now carries no force.

And tenants who had consent before 20 March 2026, spoken or written, now hold it under the new Act. You can't revisit that with a fresh lease clause. Withdrawing consent takes a TASCAT order and written notice to the tenant.

One group sits outside all of this: "ineligible animals." Dogs over six months old that aren't registered under the Dog Control Act 2000, and cats over six months old that are neither microchipped nor certificated under the Cat Management Act 2009, aren't "pets" under the Act. The consent process and its protections don't reach them. So a tenant with a dog or cat will want those boxes ticked before lodging a request.

If you manage a rental in Hobart and want to talk through what this means for your current arrangements, our property management team is glad to have that conversation.