Off-Leash Dog Parks and Beaches in Melbourne: The Rules

Last checked: 22 October 2026. Every rule below links to the government, council or park page it comes from. Metropolitan Melbourne has 31 councils (Live in Melbourne), each with its own off-leash rules. Here, “Melbourne” means the City of Melbourne council area, plus well-known parks and beaches run by Parks Victoria and the Port Phillip and Hobsons Bay councils. To find your council, search your address on the map linked from the Victorian Electoral Commission’s local councils page, then look up its off-leash list.

The short answers

• Where can my dog be off the leash? In the City of Melbourne, only in a designated off-leash area: “All of the City of Melbourne is, by default, an on-leash area.” The council lists 17 parks with off-leash areas (City of Melbourne, Walking your dog).
• What’s the fine? $209 for not having your dog on a leash or under effective control, and $261 for not picking up after it, in the City of Melbourne in 2026-27 (City of Melbourne, Animal fines).
• Can dogs go on the beach? On Port Phillip’s beaches, yes, on or off leash, from 1 April to 31 October. From 1 November to 31 March, only on set stretches, some only from 7.30 pm to 10 am (City of Port Phillip). Details below.
• Does my dog need to be registered? Yes. Under Victoria’s Domestic Animals Act 1994, every dog aged 3 months or more must be registered with your council and renewed by 10 April every year (Agriculture Victoria), and microchipped before the first registration (Agriculture Victoria, Microchipping).
• Can my dog come on the train or tram? On metro trains, on a lead and muzzled, outside weekday peaks. On trams and buses, only small animals in a carrier (Transport Victoria).

The City of Melbourne’s off-leash rules

From Walking your dog. In an off-leash area, during its off-leash hours if it has them:

• Carry a leash no longer than 3 metres.
• Keep your dog in sight and under voice or hand control, and never let it “worry, threaten or attack any person or animal”.
• Leash up within 5 metres of a shared path used by walkers and bike riders.
• Leash up within 20 metres of play or fitness equipment, a permanent barbecue or picnic area, a sports field during organised sport or training, an organised public event, and “a river, creek or waterbody”.
• Greyhounds stay on a leash in all public places in Victoria, off-leash areas included, though pet greyhounds haven’t needed a muzzle since 1 January 2019 (Victorian Government, Dec 2018; Agriculture Victoria, Greyhounds).

The council’s local law also says to carry something to pick up poop and to pick it up straight away, and not to let an animal swim or wade in any body of water in a public place unless that water is set aside for it (Activities Local Law 2024, clauses 5.5, 5.6 and 11.1).

Timed areas: Canning and Neill Street Reserve (Carlton), Point Park (Docklands), Riverside Park (Kensington) and Wellington Park (East Melbourne) are off-leash only at set times. The Walking your dog page doesn’t give the hours. In December 2023 the council’s page listed Point Park, Riverside Park and Wellington Park as off-leash from 6 pm to 8 am (1 November to 31 March) and 5 pm to 9 am (1 April to 31 October) (City of Melbourne, archived 2023). We couldn’t confirm they’re unchanged, so check the sign.

No dogs at all: parts of Royal Park, JJ Holland Park and Fawkner Park (Walking your dog).

Where to go

The full list and map are on Walking your dog.

• Royal Park, Parkville: the City of Melbourne’s largest open space, at 170 hectares (Royal Park), with three off-leash areas on the council’s map.
• Princes Park, Carlton North: about 39 hectares (Princes Park), with two off-leash areas.
• Fawkner Park, South Yarra: 41 hectares, with off-leash areas (Fawkner Park).
• Yarra Park, East Melbourne: beside the MCG, on the council’s off-leash list, and run by the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCG).
• Albert Park (Parks Victoria): mostly on-lead, with two off-lead zones, near Albert Road and west of Aughtie Drive, off-lead only when no sport or event is on. No dogs in the lake or playgrounds (Albert Park dog guide).
• Yarra Bend Park, Fairfield (Parks Victoria): Melbourne’s largest natural bushland park. Up to four dogs per visitor, on-lead in much of the park, off-lead at Westfield and Deep Rock, where dogs can swim. No dogs on the golf courses or playgrounds (Yarra Bend Park; Dog friendly parks).
• Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne: on a leash, 7.30 am to 7.30 pm, and never in the Ian Potter Foundation Children’s Garden (Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria).

Flagstaff Gardens isn’t on the council’s off-leash list, so dogs stay on a leash there.

Dog beaches

From the City of Port Phillip’s dog parks and beaches page and beach map (January 2026):

• 1 April to 31 October: dogs can go on all beaches, on or off leash.
• 1 November to 31 March: dogs can be on the sand, off leash, only here, and nowhere else:
  • St Kilda West: any time; it’s a dog beach all year.
  • St Kilda Beach: any time, along Pier Road to the drainage channel at its north-west end, and between Brookes Jetty and the northern end of the St Kilda Marina car park.
  • Sandridge: any time, between the rock groynes opposite Barak Road and Cumberland Road.
  • Port Melbourne: any time between Port Melbourne Yacht Club and Lagoon Pier; 7.30 pm to 10 am between the yacht club and Station Pier.
  • Middle Park: 7.30 pm to 10 am, between Kerferd Road Pier and Langridge Street.
  • Elwood: 7.30 pm to 10 am, between the rock groyne south of Point Ormond and the one in front of Elwood Angling Club.
  • South Melbourne Beach: no dogs on the sand.
• All year: leash up on beach paths and boardwalks and before leaving the sand, and keep off the dunes at West Beach, St Kilda.

Other councils set their own seasons. In Hobsons Bay, from 1 November to 30 April, dogs are kept off Williamstown Beach between the Life Saving Club and Sebastian Beach Grill & Bar, and off Altona Beach between Romawi and Mount Streets, from 10 am to 9.30 pm. At other times they must be on a leash there (Hobsons Bay City Council). We couldn’t open Bayside City Council’s pages (Brighton, Sandringham) on 22 October 2026, so check its signs before you go.

Where dogs can’t go

• Most national parks, including “any beaches that form part of the national park”. Parks Victoria lists a few exceptions (Dog friendly parks).
• In Port Phillip: Perce White Reserve, Frank and Mary Crean Reserve, within 5 metres of a playground, public barbecue or exercise equipment, and any sports ground while organised sport or training is on, with dogs on a leash within 20 metres of it (City of Port Phillip).

Registration, microchips and fines

• Fees are set by each council, with reductions for dogs that are desexed or over 10, among others (Agriculture Victoria, Registration fees). City of Melbourne registration is free for 2026-27 (11 April 2026 to 10 April 2027), but you still have to renew, and renewing late may cost $18 (Pet registration).
• The council tag must be worn whenever your dog is off your property. If you move council areas, transfer the registration and update the microchip registry separately (Agriculture Victoria).
• City of Melbourne fines, 2026-27: $418 for not registering or renewing, $105 for no tag outside your property (Animal fines).

Restricted breeds: Victoria restricts the American Pit Bull Terrier, Perro de Presa Canario, Dogo Argentino, Japanese Tosa and Fila Brasileiro, pure or cross-bred. Off your property, such a dog must be muzzled and leashed, with someone aged 18 or over (Agriculture Victoria, Restricted breed dogs).

Trains, trams and buses

From Transport Victoria:

• Metro trains: dogs on a lead and muzzled, off the seats and out of doorways and aisles. Clean up any mess, and avoid weekdays 7 to 9 am and 4 to 6 pm.
• Trams and buses, including rail replacement buses: only small animals in a suitable carrier.
• Guide dogs and assistance animals travel free.

Walking several dogs

We found no limit on the City of Melbourne’s dog pages. In Port Phillip, walking four or more dogs at a time needs a council permit, and a permit holder can walk up to eight (City of Port Phillip, Dog walkers). At Albert Park, Parks Victoria asks you to “bring a friend if you wish to walk with more than two dogs” (Albert Park dog guide).

Heat, snakes and ticks

• Heat. RSPCA Victoria’s vet director lists excessive panting, vomiting or diarrhoea, and unusually bright or very pale gums as signs of heatstroke. Test footpaths with the back of your hand, even after sunset, and never leave a dog in a car (RSPCA Victoria, Jan 2026). If you see those signs, cool your dog with water straight away, then take it to a vet: the steps are in heatstroke in dogs.
• Snakes come out as the weather warms, near cities too, “particularly around watercourses and parkland”. If your dog meets one, move it away; if you think it’s been bitten, go to a vet straight away (Victorian Government, DEECA, 2021). See the dog first aid kit.
• Ticks. A survey published in 2019 found the southern paralysis tick apparently living in bushy places on Melbourne’s edge, such as Kinglake and Healesville. The eastern paralysis tick turned up at 24 postcodes, but the authors found no sign it lives in Melbourne and think many of those ticks hitched a ride in (Barker and Barker, Australian Veterinary Journal). Check your dog after bush walks (how to check for ticks) and ask your vet about tick prevention.

What to bring

• A leash of 3 metres or less, even in off-leash areas, and poop bags, which the City of Melbourne’s local law says you must carry.
• Your dog’s council tag on its collar.
• Water (RSPCA Victoria), and a muzzle if you’re taking the train.

Puppies: ask your vet when the vaccines allow busy off-leash areas; see bringing home a puppy. Manners: the City of Melbourne asks you to check with other dog parents before your dog goes up to theirs, and to keep your dog on its leash if it doesn’t come back when called. More in dog park etiquette.

Know a Melbourne dog spot we missed? Tell us at support.

Dog parks in other Australian cities: Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

FAQs

Can my dog go on St Kilda beach in summer? On parts of it. From 1 November to 31 March, St Kilda West is off-leash at any time, and on St Kilda Beach dogs can go only along Pier Road and between Brookes Jetty and the marina car park (City of Port Phillip). From 1 April to 31 October, dogs can go on all of Port Phillip’s beaches.

Can I take my dog to a cafe in Melbourne? Not inside. Under Victoria’s Food Act 1984, pet dogs may be allowed only in an open-air dining area that people can enter without passing through the building, where no food is prepared, so ask the venue (Yarra City Council, 2023).

What if my dog runs off? The City of Melbourne takes stray dogs it collects to The Lost Dogs’ Home, 2 Gracie Street, North Melbourne, phone 9329 2755 (Lost and found animals). Then report the lost or found dog free on FurFam: your report gets its own page to share.