Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (POCTAA) Enforcement Grants

Program objective

In NSW, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 (POCTAA) is the primary legislation governing animal welfare.

The NSW Government established the POCTAA Enforcement Grant FY2025/26 (the Grant) to allocate and administer government funding to the Approved Charitable Organisations (ACOs) to support and supplement their resourcing of POCTAA enforcement activities during FY2025/26.;

The grant is only open to ACOs within the meaning of section 34B of the POCTAA.

The Grant has three key objectives: 

• Providing financial support toward the NSW POCTAA enforcement program;
• Establishing minimum performance criteria for the resourcing and activities of each element of the POCTAA enforcement program; and
• Securing an in-kind contribution from the ACOs to ensure that the entire POCTAA enforcement program in NSW is well-resourced.;

In NSW, animal welfare enforcement is a joint enterprise between the ACOs and the government. This joint enterprise model leverages the strengths of both government (legislative power, broad reach) and ACOs (specialised expertise, on-the-ground presence, and community trust) to achieve better outcomes for animals.

The POCTAA enforcement program activities delivered under this Grant aim to achieve a range of positive outcomes for animals, individuals, industries, and society as a whole including:

• Improved animal welfare standards and conditions – through direct and timely intervention in cases of cruelty.
• Accountability and deterrence – through the prosecution of offenders which builds public confidence and trust that animals are protected by the law.
• Behavioural change and education – through raising awareness about animal welfare issues and the importance of responsible animal care and ownership.
• Industry improvement and compliance – through regular inspections and audits that ensure animal industries comply with relevant welfare standards and codes of practice, which is crucial for market access and consumer confidence.

This program is funded and administered by Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

Grant recipients

Recipients for this program were selected to meet the program objectives.

Eligible recipients were invited to participate and were required to meet the objectives.

Support and contact