The short answer
Victoria is the only Australian state with a formal, statutory registration regime for pet businesses. If you run one of five specific business types, you register with your local council, renew every year, and comply with a mandatory Code of Practice.
If you only groom, you are not on that list. If you add daycare, you are.
This guide is general information for Australian pet business owners. It is not legal, accounting, tax or financial advice, and it does not take account of your circumstances. Australian pet businesses are regulated across four separate layers, federal, state and territory, regional and local council, and each publishes its own rules independently. This guide brings that fragmented material together in one place. It is based on publicly available information published by those bodies, verified on 7 August 2026, and linked at the point each fact is stated so you can read the original. We maintain those links and re-check them, but we do not control what those bodies publish, and rules, thresholds and fees change, most commonly on 1 July. You remain responsible for your own compliance: confirm your position with the relevant authority, your council, or your own accountant or solicitor, and make your own decision before you act. Petboost accepts no responsibility for any action taken on the basis of this article. If anything here is inaccurate, tell us and we will correct it.
What counts as a Domestic Animal Business
Agriculture Victoria organises the whole regime into exactly five business types (agriculture.vic.gov.au):
- Boarding establishments
- Breeding and rearing businesses
- Dog training establishments
- Pet shops
- Shelters and pounds
Underneath that sits the statutory definition in section 3(1) of the Domestic Animals Act 1994 (Vic), which is the actual test:
domestic animal business means (a) an animal shelter, Council pound or pet shop; or (b) an enterprise which carries out the breeding of dogs (other than GRV greyhounds) to sell, if the enterprise has 3 or more fertile female dogs and the proprietor is not a recreational breeder; or (c) an enterprise which carries out the breeding of cats to sell, if the enterprise has 3 or more fertile female cats and the proprietor is not a recreational breeder; or (d) an enterprise which trains or boards dogs (other than GRV greyhounds) or cats for the purpose of profit; or (e) an enterprise which rears or keeps dogs (other than GRV greyhounds) or cats (i) for the purpose of profit or sale; or (ii) for a fee or for exchange of services
The grooming-only question
On the current law and the department's own categories, a grooming-only salon is not a Domestic Animal Business and does not register. Four things support that:
- The word "groom" does not appear anywhere in the Domestic Animals Act 1994. Not in the definition, not in Part 4, nowhere in the authorised version.
- Grooming is not one of Agriculture Victoria's five business types, as listed above.
- ABLIS, the cross-government business licensing service, lists the same five triggers for Victorian Domestic Animal Business registration and does not list grooming (ablis.business.gov.au).
- Councils say the negative out loud. City of Boroondara: "If your business doesn't meet the above criteria, you don't need a Domestic Animal Business Permit." Its list is pet shop, boarding including daycare or overnight, breeding and rearing, dog training, and animal shelter. No grooming.
There is also a telling detail inside the mandatory Boarding Code, which assumes a groomer is an outside supplier rather than a regulated business: bathing, drying and grooming facilities "may be provided by a grooming service provided that the boarding establishment has a business agreement with the service".
The counter-argument you should know about
We are not going to pretend this is airtight, because the Act's own wording gets closer than you might like.
The Act defines board as "the taking of custody or possession of the dog or cat for keeping, accommodation, care, training or feeding for fee or reward". There is no overnight requirement in that sentence, no minimum duration and no location qualifier. Taking custody of a dog, for care, for a fee is a fair description of what happens when a dog is dropped off for a groom. Paragraph (e) is broader still: an enterprise which "keeps" dogs "for a fee".
Two things pull it back. The mandatory Boarding Code narrows boarding to custody "at a property other than the animals normal place of residence" and then splits it into overnight boarding and day boarding, with the whole code built around housing, pens, exercise, feeding and bedding. It cannot sensibly be applied to a two-hour groom. And in practice neither Agriculture Victoria nor any Victorian council lists grooming salons as registrable, which they would if a groom were boarding.
Where that leaves you: grooming only, dogs collected the same day, no minding, is not a Domestic Animal Business. The moment you hold animals outside the appointment window, or advertise anything that reads as minding, daycare or a stay, you are on boarding territory. No Victorian source draws a precise line on how long is too long, so we will not invent one. Ring your council before you advertise it.
What flips you into needing registration
| What you add | Why it triggers registration |
|---|---|
| Daycare, in any form | "Day boarding" is expressly inside the Boarding Code, and councils list "doggy day care" by name |
| Overnight boarding | Paragraph (d) of the definition, plus the Boarding Code |
| Home boarding or pet sitting at your own home | The Boarding Code covers home boarding, and councils list pet sitting inside boarding establishments |
| Dog training for profit | Paragraph (d) catches an enterprise which "trains ... for the purpose of profit", and there is a separate mandatory Dog Training Code |
| Breeding to sell with 3+ fertile females | Paragraphs (b) and (c), unless you are a recreational breeder |
| Selling animals from the premises | Paragraph (a) plus the "pet shop" definition, which needs a permanent location open at least 5 days a week |
Daycare is the one that catches grooming salons, because it often starts informally. A regular client who leaves their dog for the afternoon is a favour. The same arrangement advertised on your booking page is day boarding.
The Codes of Practice, and the penalty that surprises people
Victoria publishes six Codes of Practice under the Act (agriculture.vic.gov.au):
| Code | Covers |
|---|---|
| Management of Dogs and Cats in Shelters and Pounds (Revision 1) | Animal shelters and council pounds, from 1 Jan 2023 |
| Operation of Boarding Establishments | Boarding, including day boarding |
| Operation of Breeding and Rearing Businesses (2014) | Breeding and rearing, plus record keeping |
| Operation of Dog Training Establishments | Dog training establishments |
| Operation of Pet Shops | Pet shops |
| Keeping of Racing Greyhounds | Greyhounds registered with GRV |
There is no grooming code in Victoria. The codes track the five registrable business types, which is the clearest confirmation that grooming sits outside the regime.
Here is the counter-intuitive part. Under the Act, breaching the relevant Code of Practice carries a higher penalty than not registering at all:
| Offence | Penalty, individual | Penalty, body corporate |
|---|---|---|
| Conducting a domestic animal business on unregistered premises (s. 45) | 164 penalty units | 600 penalty units |
| Conducting a business that does not comply with the relevant code (s. 63A) | 246 penalty units | 600 penalty units |
| Failing to comply with conditions on your registration (s. 47(3)) | 10 penalty units |
A Victorian penalty unit is $209.10 for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027 (vic.gov.au). So 246 units is about $51,400 for an individual, and 164 units about $34,300. Penalty units are refixed every 1 July, so check the current value before quoting these.
The practical read: registering is not the finish line. The code is the thing that will actually cost you, and it is enforceable rather than advisory.
Registering, and the 10 April date
You register with your local council, specifically the council of the district where the premises sits. Agriculture Victoria states it plainly:
All Domestic animal businesses must register with their local council. Existing registrations must be renewed by 10 April each year. Businesses can be fined for not complying.
Two powers worth knowing. Your council can refuse registration if you do not comply with the legislation and the relevant code, and it can set special conditions on any registration. Breeding businesses must also register each animal over 3 months of age, and $20 of every registration is levied for state education programs.
Fees are set by each council, not by the state, so there is no single Victorian figure. Agriculture Victoria refers fee questions straight back to your council, and so do we. As one worked example, the City of Boroondara charged a $404 application fee as at 7 August 2026, and states that it is not refunded if the application is unsuccessful. Your council will differ.
Expect an inspection. Boroondara inspects every Domestic Animal Business annually to check compliance with the Code of Practice, and an officer will visit before a permit is granted, confirm compliance with the Act and Animal Welfare Victoria guidelines, and may photograph the premises. If you do not meet the criteria, the permit is refused, though follow-up inspections are generally scheduled at no extra cost.
The renewal date is the trap. It is 10 April, not 30 June, and it does not line up with anything else in your business year. There is no rollover and no grace period in the Act. Put it in your calendar in February.
The change nobody plans for: selling the business
This is the most commercially dangerous provision in the Act, and it is easy to miss.
A Domestic Animal Business registration cannot be inherited by a new owner. Under s. 48(1), the registration runs until a change in the ownership of the business. It simply ends. The buyer is not taking over a registered business; they are applying for their own registration.
Compare that with a change of premises, which s. 52 does allow to be transferred, on 30 days' notice to the council.
If you are buying or selling a Victorian boarding or daycare business, settlement day is the day the seller's registration ends. Sort the buyer's registration before settlement, not after, or the business trades unregistered from day one, and that is the 164 penalty unit offence.
What to do
- Only groom, same-day, no minding? You are not a Domestic Animal Business. Keep it that way deliberately.
- Thinking about daycare? Call your council before you advertise it, not after your first booking.
- Already registered? Diarise 10 April, and read the code that applies to you properly, because it carries the bigger penalty.
- Buying or selling? Get the new registration organised before settlement.
Verified 7 August 2026 against the sources below, all of which are publicly available. Rules, categories and fees change, and council fees are typically reset on 1 July with each council's budget. This article is a starting point for your own research, not a substitute for it. Check the linked source and confirm your own position with the relevant authority before you rely on anything here.
Sources
- Agriculture Victoria, Domestic animal businesses: agriculture.vic.gov.au
- Agriculture Victoria, Domestic animal business registration: agriculture.vic.gov.au
- Agriculture Victoria, Codes of Practice: agriculture.vic.gov.au
- Victorian Legislation, Domestic Animals Act 1994 (in force): legislation.vic.gov.au
- Victorian Legislation, Domestic Animals Act 1994 Authorised Version No. 091: content.legislation.vic.gov.au
- Victorian Legislation, Domestic Animals Regulations 2025: content.legislation.vic.gov.au
- Department of Treasury and Finance Victoria, Notice fixing the value of a fee unit and a penalty unit: vic.gov.au
- Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria, Penalties and values: justice.vic.gov.au
- ABLIS, Domestic Animal Business Registration (VIC): ablis.business.gov.au
- City of Boroondara, Domestic animal business permit: boroondara.vic.gov.au