Keeping hens · Territory rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in the Northern Territory, Australia?

In the Northern Territory, the owner of a property where poultry are kept must have a property identification code (PIC) registered for it; the regulations read state no minimum flock size (Livestock Regulations 2009).

Read from 5 official sources45 passages quotedChecked October 26, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Registration required

Territory keeping rule

Not established

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule identified

A sourced reading of the law in the Northern Territory, Australia, not legal advice. Local bylaws and zoning, property or tenancy rules, and any local rooster or coop limits aren't covered here yet: check your local rules before you get hens.

Keeping your flock

These findings cover the scope stated below. They do not determine whether chickens are allowed at a particular home. City zoning, property restrictions and other local rules are outside this research.

Registering as a poultry keeper

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Northern Territory

Applies to: Owners of properties in the Northern Territory where poultry are kept, under the Livestock Regulations 2009 (as in force at 23 May 2025).

Outside this finding's scope

  • Regulation 32(1) and Schedule 3 item 11, as quoted, contain no flock-size or commercial-use condition. Exceptions elsewhere in the Livestock Act 2008 or Regulations were not established beyond the regulations read (3, 30–32, 34 and Schedule 3).

What the checked sources say

  • Poultry are listed in Schedule 3, so they are livestock prescribed for the property identification code (PIC) system and count as identifiable livestock. A property where identifiable livestock are kept is an identifiable property, and its owner must have a PIC registered for it.
  • On the owner’s application, the Registrar must allot and register a PIC and issue a certificate of registration. The Registrar may give a single PIC to adjacent properties owned by the same person and worked as a single property.
  • A new owner must give the Registrar notice of the change of ownership within 28 days after the transfer, saying whether they intend to keep identifiable livestock on the property.
  • The Australian Government’s ABLIS listing for the NT PIC says no fee is payable to apply, and names the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries as the administering agency.

Thresholds

  • No minimum number of poultry is stated in regulation 32(1) or Schedule 3 item 11.

Authority: The Registrar (regulation 32); ABLIS names the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries as the administering agency.

Fee: ABLIS lists no fee to apply for an NT PIC.

The official wording

Bird-flu housing orders

Current status needs rechecking

An official current-status link has not been established.

Orders can change between checks. A missed check or an expired order does not establish that no order applies.

Housing-order finding as checked on 2026-10-26

The scope and conditions below are a dated record, not confirmation of today's position.

Conditions apply to this finding

Uses housing orders in this scope: Yes, according to the checked evidence, within the limits listed under “Outside this finding’s scope” below.

Jurisdiction: Northern Territory

Applies to: Quarantine orders by the Chief Inspector under the Livestock Act 2008 (as in force at 30 April 2024), which can require the owner of poultry or other livestock suspected of disease to keep them contained within a specified area or at a specified place.

Outside this finding's scope

  • A quarantine order binds the owner it is given to; these powers do not by themselves require all birds to be housed.
  • Whether any quarantine order or other housing requirement applies now was not established, and no official NT status page could be read for this page.

What the checked sources say

  • Poultry are livestock under the Livestock Act. If the Chief Inspector reasonably suspects disease in any thing, including livestock, the Chief Inspector may order its owner to keep it contained within a specified area, or to move it to a specified place and keep it there under the conditions in the order.
  • The order may allow release under a condition in the order or with the Chief Inspector’s written permission. A quarantine order lasts for the period it states, which cannot be more than 40 days, and an inspector may revoke it earlier if satisfied that is appropriate. A person given a quarantine order must not contravene it.
  • Whether any order requiring poultry to be confined applies now was not established; the Chief Inspector makes these orders.
Checked
Recheck due

Historical evidence, as checked

These quotations record what was checked on the dates shown. They do not confirm an order's current status.

  • LIVESTOCK ACT 2008 As in force at 30 April 2024

    cover page · Checked

  • The following animals are livestock: (a) crocodiles, cattle, buffalo, horses, camels, sheep, goats, pigs (including wild pigs), deer, llamas, alpacas, poultry and honey bees;

    section 5(1)(a), printed page 7 · Checked

  • The Chief Inspector may make any of the following orders if the inspector reasonably suspects the presence of a disease in any thing (including livestock): (a) the owner of the thing must keep the thing contained within a specified area;

    section 42(1)(a), printed page 25 · Checked

  • the owner of the thing must move the thing to a specified place and keep it there in accordance with the conditions specified in the order.

    section 42(1)(b), printed page 25 · Checked

  • An order under subsection (1) may make provision for the thing to be released from the area or place in which it is kept in accordance with: (a) a condition specified in the order; or (b) the written permission of the Chief Inspector.

    section 42(2), printed page 25 · Checked

  • A quarantine order remains in force for the period specified in the order, which must not be more than 40 days.

    section 44(1), printed page 26 · Checked

  • An inspector may revoke a quarantine order before the end of the specified period if the inspector is satisfied it is appropriate to do so.

    section 44(2), printed page 27 · Checked

  • A person given a quarantine order must not contravene the order.

    section 45, printed page 27 · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Northern Territory

Applies to: General duties under the Animal Protection Act 2018 (as in force at 3 November 2025) for live chickens, including privately kept flocks, and the effect of codes adopted by the Animal Protection Regulations 2022 (as in force at 23 October 2026).

Outside this finding's scope

  • The strict-liability offences below are subject to the code-of-practice defence in section 21(2).
  • No numerical small-flock standard from the adopted poultry standards is stated; those standards were not read.

What the checked sources say

  • An animal is a live member of a vertebrate species other than fish (birds included), but not a human being. A person in control of an animal includes an owner, a parent or guardian of a minor owner, a person who has control of it or supervises someone in possession of it, and a person in possession of it.
  • A person in control must provide a minimum level of care, and a person must not be cruel to an animal. Minimum care means appropriate and sufficient food and water; appropriate accommodation and living conditions; appropriate treatment for disease, injury or suffering; appropriate exercise, handling, confinement or restraint, and work or other use; no abandonment; and no use in an organised animal fight.
  • Something is appropriate if it ensures the animal’s welfare having regard to all relevant circumstances, including its species and environment. It is not appropriate if it causes, or is likely to cause or contribute to, unjustifiable, unnecessary or unreasonable suffering, or if a regulation prescribes it as not appropriate.
  • A person in control commits a strict-liability offence if an animal kept on premises lacks access to water or shelter at any time it is there, if the place where it is kept is unhygienic for it, if it is diseased, injured or suffering and the person fails to treat or seek treatment, or if confinement or restraint stops it moving in an appropriate way (judged by its age, physical condition and size).
  • The Regulations adopt the documents in Schedule 1 Part B, as in force when section 19 of the Animal Protection and Related Legislation Amendment Act 2025 commences, as codes of practice; Part B lists the 2022 Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry. Compliance or non-compliance with an adopted code is admissible evidence of whether an Act duty was met, and acting in accordance with an adopted code is a defence to a prosecution.

The official wording

  • ANIMAL PROTECTION ACT 2018 As in force at 3 November 2025

    cover page · Checked

  • An animal is a live: (a) member of a vertebrate species, other than fish; and

    section 5(1)(a), printed page 6 · Checked

  • Vertebrate species of animals may include amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles.

    section 5 note, printed page 6 · Checked

  • Despite subsection (1)(a), an animal does not include a human being.

    section 5(2), printed page 6 · Checked

  • person in control, in relation to an animal, means any of the following: (a) an owner of the animal; (b) a parent or guardian of a minor who is an owner of the animal;

    section 4, person in control (a)–(b), printed page 4 · Checked

  • (c) a person who has control of the animal or is supervising another person in possession of the animal; (d) a person in possession of the animal.

    section 4, person in control (c)–(d), printed page 4 · Checked

  • A person in control of an animal must provide a minimum level of care to the animal. (2) A person must not be cruel to an animal.

    section 22(1)–(2), printed page 13 · Checked

  • The minimum level of care for an animal is the level of care required to ensure that the animal: (a) has appropriate and sufficient food and water; and (b) has appropriate accommodation and living conditions; and

    section 6(1)(a)–(b), printed page 6 · Checked

  • is appropriately treated for disease or an injury, or when suffering; and

    section 6(1)(c), printed page 7 · Checked

  • (d) is allowed appropriate exercise; and (e) is handled only in ways that are appropriate; and (f) is confined or restrained only in ways that are appropriate; and

    section 6(1)(d)–(f), printed page 7 · Checked

  • (g) is worked, ridden or otherwise used only in ways that are appropriate; and (h) is not abandoned; and (i) is not used in an organised animal fight.

    section 6(1)(g)–(i), printed page 7 · Checked

  • Something is appropriate for an animal if it is appropriate to ensure the welfare of the animal having regard to all relevant circumstances, including the animal's species and the environment in which the animal is kept or lives.

    section 6(2), printed page 7 · Checked

  • Something is not appropriate for an animal if: (a) it causes, is likely to cause, contributes to, or is likely to contribute to the animal suffering that is unjustifiable, unnecessary or unreasonable in the circumstances; or (b) it is prescribed by regulation as being not appropriate.

    section 6(3), printed page 7 · Checked

  • A person in control of an animal commits an offence of strict liability if: (a) the person keeps the animal on premises; and (b) at any time when the animal is on the premises, the animal does not have access to water or shelter.

    section 23A, printed page 14 · Checked

  • A person in control of an animal commits an offence of strict liability if: (a) the person keeps the animal on premises; and (b) the place on the premises where the animal is kept is unhygienic for the animal.

    section 23B, printed page 14 · Checked

  • A person in control of an animal commits an offence of strict liability if: (a) the animal is diseased, injured or suffering; and (b) the person fails to treat, or seek treatment for, the disease, injury or suffering.

    section 23C, printed page 14 · Checked

  • A person in control of an animal commits an offence of strict liability if: (a) the person confines or restrains the animal; and (b) the animal is not able to move in a way that is appropriate for the animal because of the confinement or restraint.

    section 23D(1), printed page 15 · Checked

  • In deciding if an animal is not able to move in a way that is appropriate for the animal because of confinement or restraint, regard must be had to the animal's age, physical condition and size.

    section 23D(2), printed page 15 · Checked

  • ANIMAL PROTECTION REGULATIONS 2022 As in force at 23 October 2026

    cover page · Checked

  • For section 20 of the Act, the following documents are adopted as codes of practice relating to animal welfare:

    regulation 4 opening, printed page 2 · Checked

  • the documents specified in Schedule 1, Part B, as in force on the day section 19 of the Animal Protection and Related Legislation Amendment Act 2025 commences.

    regulation 4(b), printed page 2 · Checked

  • Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Cth), 2022.

    Schedule 1 Part B item 1, printed page 15 · Checked

  • Evidence of compliance or non-compliance with a code of practice adopted or prescribed by regulation is admissible in proceedings as evidence of whether or not a duty or obligation under this Act has been complied with.

    section 21(1), printed page 13 · Checked

  • Without limiting subsection (1), it is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against this Act if the conduct constituting the offence, or an element of the offence, was in accordance with a code of practice adopted or prescribed by regulation.

    section 21(2), printed page 13 · Checked

Rules on keeping poultry

Not established from the sources checked

Jurisdiction: Northern Territory

Applies to: Territory-wide rules on keeping chickens at a property in the Northern Territory.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No territory-wide permission or ban on keeping chickens was found in the Livestock Act 2008, Livestock Regulations 2009 and Animal Protection Act 2018 provisions read. Local by-laws and planning rules were not read, and who sets local rules was not established.
Selling eggs in the Northern Territory, Australia? →Licence, small-flock line, markets and cartons, on their own page.Selling: Registration

Elsewhere in Australia

Every region on the map →

Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in the Northern Territory, Australia?
Registration: required. The finding covers: Owners of properties in the Northern Territory where poultry are kept, under the Livestock Regulations 2009 (as in force at 23 May 2025). No minimum number of poultry is stated in regulation 32(1) or Schedule 3 item 11. Outside this finding's scope: Regulation 32(1) and Schedule 3 item 11, as quoted, contain no flock-size or commercial-use condition. Exceptions elsewhere in the Livestock Act 2008 or Regulations were not established beyond the regulations read (3, 30–32, 34 and Schedule 3). Authority: The Registrar (regulation 32); ABLIS names the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries as the administering agency.
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in the Northern Territory, Australia?
The sources we read don't settle it, and we haven't identified who decides. Check your local rules before you get hens.
Do I have to keep my hens indoors for bird flu in the Northern Territory, Australia?
Housing orders come and go, so we never show one as current. We haven't confirmed an official current-status page for it.

Allowed where you live? Then keep the records.

PoultryPal tracks your birds, eggs, hatches, sales, and expenses — so you can see exactly how your flock is doing. Free to download on iOS and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play