Changes to the bird licensing system
On 1 November 2002, section 108 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act (the 19 bird rule) was repealed, and a new system for the keeping and trading in protected birds was introduced. The 19 bird rule allowed people to keep up to 19 protected native birds without the need for a licence. As a result of the change, anyone keeping a non-exempt protected native bird will need to obtain a licence.
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How to get a licence
As a result of the changes, the NPWS declared a grace period of six months to allow anyone holding non-exempt native species to apply for a licence to continue to legally hold their birds. This ended on 30 April 2003. As the grace period has now expired, anyone who holds any protected birds and has not yet applied for a licence will need to do so as soon as possible.
If you have more than one protected native bird but do not have a licence, you will need to obtain either a class 1 or 2 bird keeper's licence (see species list). In order to do this, you will need to fill out an application for a bird keeper's licence, listing all of the protected species you hold and providing copies of notice of sale receipts for all protected birds in your possession.
If you do not have notice of sale receipts to verify the legal possession of the protected birds you hold, you will need to submit a statutory declaration (signed by a justice of the peace) detailing how and when the bird(s) were obtained.
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What to do if you don't want to be licensed
If you do not wish to obtain a licence to hold your protected birds, you can apply for an authority to dispose of your birds to either a licensed keeper or dealer, or to someone interstate via an interstate export licence.
In order to obtain an authority to dispose of protected birds, you will need to provide the NPWS with a statutory declaration (signed by a justice of the peace) detailing the following:
1. Name, full address and contact phone number
2. Name, address and license number of the individual who the birds will be disposed of to.
3. Originals of Notice of Sale Receipts for the birds, or a statutory declaration detailing how and when they were obtained.
A letter granting the applicant authority to dispose of the birds can then be issued.
Please note, it is an offence to dispose of protected birds to an unlicensed person, or to release captive birds into the wild.