23/07/2026
We met this week with a senior officer from New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI).
We talked about assistance animal import and export between Australia and New Zealand, airline barriers and refusals, biosecurity compliance and where things go wrong, the new import standard for cats and dogs and shared some grassroots examples from handlers navigating the process.
One of the ideas I proposed was creating a single flowchart to guide assistance animal handlers through every step of planning a return holiday between Australia and New Zealand. A practical guide like this could reduce stress and travel anxiety for handlers while also improving biosecurity compliance.
Because it really shouldn't be that complicated.
The best part of the meeting, though, was the engagement from the MPI officer. There was a genuine understanding that the Ministry could write a technically brilliant policy, but if it wasn't informed from the outset, by real-world experience and practical examples, it would likely fail the first time someone tried to follow it.
That's rare in government these days - a willingness to openly share information, listen, and get to the heart of what actually needs doing.
Thank you, MPI, for taking the time to engage with us. We look forward to sharing our knowledge and practical experience to help make trans-Tasman travel simpler, more accessible, and easier to navigate for Australian and New Zealand assistance animal handlers.
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Our work supports the broader Australian assistance animal community, alongside our own Assistance Paws Australia handlers.
If you're planning to travel with your assistance animal and need guidance, we're here to help.
If you're interested in training alongside your own suitable animal to achieve assistance animal status we’d welcome you connecting with us.
Ministry for Primary Industries