Cooper Case: No-Pets By-Laws Are Dead

Six years on, the Cooper decision is still one of the most important strata cases in NSW. The NSW Court of Appeal ruled that an outright "no pets" by-law was harsh, unconscionable and oppressive — and invalid. The principle has reshaped pet by-laws in every scheme since.

What happened

The owners corporation had a by-law that simply prohibited the keeping of any animals on any lot or common property, with very narrow exceptions. The Coopers had a small dog. The scheme tried to enforce the by-law.

The case worked its way through NCAT and the NCAT Appeal Panel before landing in the NSW Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal held that the by-law was harsh, unconscionable or oppressive within the meaning of Section 139(1) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) — and was therefore invalid under Section 150.

The key principle

Basten JA, considering the limits of Section 136 (which sets out what by-laws can lawfully cover), said:

Put in plain English: a by-law can't ban something just because someone doesn't like it. The prohibition has to be connected to actual harm — a measurable, real-world impact on other owners.

Where a "no pets" by-law might still be justified

The original NCAT decision in 2019 noted some narrow circumstances where a stricter by-law might survive — small schemes, schemes with very high tenant turnover, holiday accommodation, or where new owners expressly agreed in writing as a condition of buying in (citing Owners – Strata Plan No 58068 v/ats Cooper [2019] NSWCATCD 62 at [112]-[114]).

But the Court of Appeal's broader reasoning makes even those carve-outs uncertain. The safer assumption now: a blanket pet ban will almost always fail.

What's happened since Cooper

NSW Parliament has gone further than the case law:

• 24 August 2021 — Section 137B SSMA and clause 36 of the Strata Schemes Management Regulation 2016 commenced, setting out the circumstances in which an animal can be considered to cause "unreasonable interference."
• 11 December 2023 — the Strata Legislation Amendment Act 2023 commenced. This banned bonds and fees for keeping animals, banned mandatory insurance for animals, and protected assistance animals.
• 1 November 2024 — the Community Land Management Amendment Act (Pets) Regulation 2024 brought community schemes into line with strata schemes.
• 1 July 2025 — further changes under the Strata Schemes Legislation Amendment Act 2025 expanded the forms of evidence accepted for assistance animals, and confirmed that supplying any one prescribed form of evidence is sufficient.

The fee question — what about an application fee?

A 2021 NCAT decision, Roden v The Owners – Strata Plan No. 55773 [2021] NSWCATCD 61, upheld a pet by-law that included a non-refundable $300 application fee. But that decision came down just days after the 2021 reforms, which the Tribunal didn't refer to.

The position has since shifted. The Second Reading Speech of the 2023 amending Bill expressly criticised schemes charging "hundreds of dollars" to consider pet applications. As Bannermans Lawyers note (July 2025 update), any requirement for a pet application fee is now likely contrary to the legislation and invalid.