Cat management strategy working group

The Cat Management Strategy Working Group (CMSWG) held its second meeting on Wednesday 26 August 2026. The group reviewed progress on the Victorian Cat Management Strategy 2025-2035 and discussed priorities for the next stage of work.

Progress on the Strategy

Animal Welfare Victoria reported that 12 of the Strategy's 24 actions have started or been completed. Work underway includes public information, grants, animal outcome reporting and resources for councils and the community.

A Cat Management Strategy information hub is now available. It brings together the Strategy, progress updates and practical resources about responsible cat ownership, containment, desexing, registration and microchipping. Many resources can be printed, and selected materials are available in Arabic, Simplified Chinese and Vietnamese.

Programs underway

Targeted cat desexing program

The working group received an update on the Capture, Desex, Adopt program. The program is supporting 14 councils to provide free or low-cost desexing, microchipping and registration in areas where help is most needed. It focuses on semi-owned and unowned cats and encourages people who feed cats to take full responsibility for them.

The program will be evaluated after it finishes. The evaluation will look at results, delivery challenges, collaboration between councils and lessons for future programs.

Rethink Roaming campaign

The group also received an update on Rethink Roaming, a campaign funded by the cat management strategy and delivered by RSPCA Victoria. It gives cat owners practical advice and tools to help keep cats safely contained. It also promotes registration, microchipping and desexing.

What the group talked about

Holding periods for unidentified cats

The group discussed an early proposal to reduce the minimum holding period for unidentified cats from 8 days to 3 days. Under the proposal, cats with clear ownership identification would continue to have an 8-day minimum holding period.

The proposed 3 days would be a minimum period, not a deadline to move or rehome a cat. Pounds and shelters could keep a cat for longer when needed for welfare, assessment, treatment, capacity or possible owner reclaim. The proposal would allow them to start major steps, such as desexing or moving a cat into foster care, earlier when appropriate.

Members discussed possible welfare benefits as well as practical issues for councils, pounds and shelters. They also discussed how an unidentified cat should be defined and the need for clear public information.

It is important to note that this proposed reform will not enable earlier euthanasia of any cats.

The proposal will be refined and brought back to the working group. Any change would need future government and legislative consideration. Current holding period requirements remain in place.

Setting priorities

The group agreed that that actions under theme 6 of the Strategy better collaboration and information sharing should be an early focus. Members said that clearer coordination could help organisations share useful information, reduce duplicated work and identify gaps.

The group also discussed feral cats and biodiversity, including opportunities to better understand current work, available information and barriers to using management tools.

What happens next

Animal Welfare Victoria will continue to develop and deliver current actions and will seek to convene a working group meeting in early December to discuss Theme 6 (Improve Collaboration and Information Sharing) actions in more detail.

Working together

The second meeting continued the group's practical and collaborative approach. The focus remains on improving cat welfare, supporting responsible ownership, protecting wildlife and finding workable solutions for Victorian communities.

The Cat Management Strategy Working Group (CMSWG) has held its first meeting. The group includes councils, animal welfare groups, conservation partners and government. It will help put the Victorian Cat Management Strategy 2025–2035 into action.

What is the CMSWG?

The CMSWG is a practical group that brings different sectors together. It helps Animal Welfare Victoria (AWV) deliver the Strategy over the next 10 years.

The group helps by:

• sharing good ideas about managing cats
• talking about what councils, shelters and communities are seeing
• finding problems early and suggesting ways to fix them
• helping groups work together and avoid doing the same work twice
• keeping the focus on cat welfare, wildlife protection and community needs

Who is on the Working Group?

These organisations took part in the first meeting:

• Animal Welfare Victoria (DEECA)
• City of Greater Bendigo
• City of Greater Geelong
• City of Whittlesea
• Parks Victoria
• Zoos Victoria
• RSPCA Victoria
• The Lost Dogs Home
• Cat Protection Society of Victoria
• Project Meow Geelong
• Victorian Catchments

Council, shelter and rescue group members may change over time. This will help make sure different views are included.

First meeting: what happened

The first meeting was held online on Thursday 2 April 2026.

Why the Strategy matters

The meeting showed that cat management is a difficult issue across Victoria. The Strategy aims to support responsible cat ownership and improve cat welfare. It also aims to reduce harm to wildlife and respond to community concerns.

Work already underway

AWV gave updates on work already in progress, including:

• Targeted cat desexing grants (Action 12)
  A grants program is helping councils run local cat desexing programs. The focus is on semi-owned and unowned cats. The program will be reviewed at the end to see what worked and what can be improved.
• 'Rethink Roaming' cat containment campaign (Action 7)
  AWV and RSPCA Victoria are working together on a statewide campaign. It encourages people to keep cats safely contained and be responsible cat owners. The campaign explains the benefits for cats and wildlife.
• Practical resources for councils and communities (Actions 1 & 2)
  Councils can use and share updated information about responsible cat ownership. This includes advice on desexing, cat containment and keeping cats active and healthy.
• Behaviour assessment guidelines (Action 11)
  Guidelines have been developed to help shelters and rescue groups assess cat behaviour. Stakeholders helped develop them. Extra materials, like videos, are being finalised to help people use the guidelines in the same way.

What the group talked about

The group had a useful discussion about what is working, what is hard, and where there are good chances to make progress.

Main topics included:

• Responsible ownership and welfare
  The group talked about the need for clear, positive education. Trusted voices, such as vets, shelters and community groups, can help share this message.
• More cat desexing
  The group discussed barriers such as cost, transport and access to services. These issues can be harder for people doing it tough or caring for several cats.
• Cat containment
  The group discussed the need for simple and realistic advice. Advice should work for different homes, including rental homes and smaller properties.
• Semi-owned and unowned cats
  The group discussed the need for clearer public advice about cats that are fed or cared for informally. This could help improve outcomes for cats and communities.
• Feral cat management
  The group discussed the need for land managers to work together and share what works over time.
• Better coordination and information sharing
  The group was interested in making it easier to see who is doing what and where. This could help reduce duplicated work.

What happens next

The CMSWG agreed that the next meeting will focus on setting priorities and timing for the Strategy’s actions. This means deciding what should happen first to make the biggest difference and build momentum.

AWV will also keep working on actions from the first meeting. This includes developing a simple public information hub so the community and stakeholders can find strategy updates and resources more easily.
For more information visit Victorian cat management strategy.

A positive start

The first meeting was a positive start. It showed that different sectors are committed to working together. The focus is on practical, evidence-based ways to improve cat welfare, support responsible ownership and reduce preventable harm to wildlife. The group will focus on solutions that work for Victorian communities.