Roadmap urges law reform to recognise animals as victims of family violence

The National Roadmap for Change to Prevent and End Family Violence against People and Animals, launched by Lucy’s Project at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday, sets out recommendations spanning housing, legislation, accountability, data and prevention. It draws on insights from survivors, a 2025 national roundtable of more than 100 people from over 80 organisations, and a Churchill Fellowship undertaken by the charity’s chief executive that examined initiatives in New Zealand, the United States and Canada.

Lucy’s Project CEO Monique Dam says, “If animals are at risk of violence, the people who love them are at risk too. When there is nowhere safe for survivors to go with their animals, many delay leaving. When animals are killed, harmed or separated from them, women and children grieve this loss for decades.

“We are calling on all levels of government to adopt the Roadmap’s recommendations and invest in coordinated reform that protects people and animals together.”

At the centre of the legal reforms is a call to amend family violence legislation so that courts can name animals as protected parties in family violence orders and determine their ownership. The Roadmap also seeks changes to microchipping and registration rules so that a listed owner can be changed where there is evidence the animal is being used to control or harm a victim-survivor. “We know that sometimes they put the pet in their name, so you can’t take them,” says Billie-Jo Williams, a refuge manager and survivor advocate who contributed to the document. “There’s still a big piece of work around ownership.”

The Roadmap frames this as recognising animals as sentient beings and victim-survivors in their own right, rather than as property to be divided. “We need to change our laws so that we recognise that animals are victims of family and domestic violence. If we have a reporting system for children, we should have it for animals as well,” survivor advocate Jayke Burgess says. Another advocate, Talie Star, notes that animals are not currently listed as victims on apprehended violence orders and says that should change. “Animals are victims of violence as well,” she states.

The document builds on the Family Law Amendment Act 2024, which reframed pets as “companion animals” for the purposes of property settlement and required courts to consider family violence and cruelty to an animal when deciding who keeps it. Lucy’s Project, which made a submission to the Senate committee examining the bill and gave evidence at the hearing, argued that the safety of victim-survivors should be the central consideration.

Beyond the courts, the Roadmap presses for animal-inclusive crisis accommodation, tenancy-law reform to stop discrimination against renters with pets, and better data collection, including a question on animal abuse in the national Personal Safety Survey and funded reporting on how many victim-survivors are turned away by services that cannot take their animals.

On reporting, however, the Roadmap stops short of backing a mandatory or permissive scheme for vets and other practitioners, recommending only that stakeholders be consulted on whether to introduce a framework. Dam tells LSJ Online the caution is deliberate. Views across the sectors were held strongly and diverged, she says, and broader consultation is the best way to avoid unintended consequences.

“The purpose of any reform should always be to improve the safety and wellbeing of people and animals experiencing DFV,” Dam said.

Lucy’s Project says the Roadmap aims to shape federal, state, territory and local government responses to family violence, including the Second Action Plan under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022–2032.

The launch continues at NSW Parliament House in September.