Dear Scott

Thank you for your enquiry.

I have been liaising with the relevant Council departments to locate the
information for your request, which I can provide to you under Councils
Administrative access and Right to Information Policy which can be found
[1]here.

On Councils website, the fees and charges section states that  ‘Free
registration applies to assistance dogs – proof is required (i.e.
certified through an approved trainer and/training institute.)’

On the animal registration form there is a listing of all registration
types and associated costs. For assistance dogs it details that there is
no registration fee.

Additionally, it states assistance animals must be registered with
Council. Assistance dogs include: guide, hearing, companion and seeing eye
dogs.

More information on fees can be found [2]here.

The definition used by Council for an assistance dog contained within
section 9 of the Disabilities Discrimination Act 1992 (Qld) refers to:

o A guide dog
o A dog trained to assist a person in activities where hearing is
required
o Any other animal trained to assist a person to alleviate the effect of
a disability.

This definition can be located [3]here.

Council also considers the definition of an assistance animal as per
section 54A of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth).

I can confirm, as at today’s date, there are 141 guide/assistance dogs
registered within the Sunshine Coast Councils region. As mentioned above,
assistance dogs do not attract a registration fee. Therefore all 141
registered guide/assistance dogs have not been required to pay
registration costs.

I hope this answers your queries.

Regards,

Krystal Sinn

Integrity Project Officer 

Integrity Management | Ethical Standards 

Sunshine Coast Council 

 [4]Image preview

Email:      [5][email address] 

Phone:    [6](07) 5441 8435

Web:      [7]www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au 

Mail:         Locked Bag 72 Sunshine Coast Mail Centre Qld 4560 

Please consider the environment before printing this email 

Sunshine Coast Council acknowledges the Sunshine Coast Country, home of
the Kabi Kabi peoples and the Jinibara peoples, the Traditional
Custodians, whose lands and waters we all now share. 

We commit to working in partnership with the Traditional Custodians and
the broader First Nations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander)
community to support self-determination through economic and community
development. 

From: scott dwyer <[FOI #11260 email]>
Sent: Thursday, May 2, 2024 8:52 PM
To: Internet Mailbox Right to Information <[Sunshine Coast Regional Council request email]>
Subject: Internal review of Right to Information request - Assistance
Animals

[SCC External Email: Use caution with links and attachments]

Dear Sunshine Coast Regional Council,

I note the standard time allowable for a request of this nature has
expired, can you please advise if the request is being worked on or what
update you can provide

Yours faithfully,

scott dwyer

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