Reviewed and updated 14-10-2026. We checked this summary against the judgment, replaced a quotation we could not match to the paragraph cited, and removed later decisions and legislative history we could not verify.
The Cooper decision is still one of the most important strata cases in NSW. The NSW Court of Appeal held that a by-law banning all animals was invalid. The principle reaches beyond pets: a by-law that restricts what owners do in their own lot needs a real connection to protecting other owners.
The case
Cooper v The Owners – Strata Plan No. 58068 [2020] NSWCA 250
NSW Court of Appeal, 12-10-2020 (Basten JA, Macfarlan JA, Fagan J).
What happened
By-law 14 at The Horizon in Darlinghurst banned keeping any animal on a lot or on common property. The Coopers kept a miniature schnauzer. The Court of Appeal allowed their appeal and held the by-law invalid.
The key principles
- A by-law that limits owners' property rights is valid only if it protects other occupants' use and enjoyment of their lots or the common property from adverse effects ([46], [81]). A blanket animal ban does not do that ([46]–[47], [54], [79]–[80]).
- "Harsh, unconscionable or oppressive" in section 139(1) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 is one combined test, judged by contemporary community standards ([26]–[29]).
- Administrative convenience does not justify a by-law ([46], [54], [82]).
- The power to make by-laws (s136) may only be used for proper purposes ([56]–[63]).
- Fagan J described the ban as "oppressive" because it prohibited an ordinary incident of owning property and gave other owners no material benefit ([88]).
In plain English: a by-law can't ban something just because some owners don't like it. The restriction has to be connected to protecting other owners from a real impact.
What Cooper does not mean
Cooper does not make keeping a pet unconditional. A by-law that requires permission and sets reasonable conditions — leashing on common property, cleaning up, controlling noise — can still be valid.
What's changed since Cooper
- 11 December 2023 — the Strata Legislation Amendment Act 2023 commenced. By-laws cannot unreasonably restrict pets, and a bond cannot be required for a pet. The rules on evidence for assistance animals were clarified.
- 2025 reforms — section 139A and the Regulation (cl 37A) set out the evidence options an owners corporation can require to show an animal is an assistance animal.
- A by-law that is inconsistent with the Act has no force from the date the law changed.
What this means for your scheme
If your scheme still has a blanket "no pets" by-law on the books, it is very unlikely to be enforceable. It's worth repealing it properly — by special resolution at a general meeting, then registering the change. Old by-laws sitting in your records look authoritative to new owners; better to remove them than have someone discover they're invalid mid-dispute.
Don't ask for a pet bond. The law no longer allows it.
What you can do is regulate pets sensibly with a permission-based by-law and reasonable conditions. The question isn't whether some owners want pets banned — it's whether a restriction genuinely protects other owners.
Related articles
Sources
Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), s136, s139, s139A, s141, s150; Strata Legislation Amendment Act 2023; Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025.
Cooper v The Owners – Strata Plan No. 58068 [2020] NSWCA 250. Full text via NSW Caselaw: caselaw.nsw.gov.au