Catch and release reptiles

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water may issue a licence to suitably qualified people to catch and release reptiles.

A biodiversity conservation licence can be granted under Part 2 of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 that allows handlers to legally catch and release reptiles (usually snakes) from commercial and residential homes and backyards.

Reptile handlers operate under strict licence conditions to ensure human safety and animal welfare.

Licence requirements

To apply for a catch and release reptile licence, you need to:

complete the reptile catch and release licence application form (PDF 79KB)
prove you are 18 years or over in age
explain why a licence should be granted and describe the location/area where you will operate
provide 2 written references from people who can validate your ability and experience
demonstrate that you hold a current first aid certificate and public liability insurance
prove that you have completed a practical reptile handling course or have at least 2 years proven experience in handling venomous snakes.

Licence conditions and application forms

Removing a snake from your home or garden

The safest thing to do is not to try and handle or kill the snake. Keep children and pets well away. Contact a local reptile handler or wildlife rehabilitation group. They will remove the snake from your home or garden.

Reptile handlers

You can find contact details below for licensed operators who have agreed to make their contact information available to the public.

Blue Mountains

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Greater Sydney and Illawarra	Jayden Patterson	0475 904 936
Blue Mountains, Sydney and Wollongong	John Cartwright	02 9546 7022
Blue Mountains, Western Sydney and Hawkesbury	Joshua Newbert	0429 842 188
Blue Mountains	Kristine Robins	0410 586 050
Blue Mountains	Levi Rehn	0419 136 123
Blue Mountains, Western Sydney and Hawkesbury	Shane Davies	0401 463 446
Upper Blue Mountains	Timothy Harvey	0484 685 686
Lower and Upper Blue Mountains, Mudgee, Hawkesbury, Kanangra and Cumberland areas	Troy Hovenden	0404 109 421

Central Coast – Gosford

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Central Coast, Great Lakes	Barry Martin	0429 325 905
Central Coast	Bradley Gabriel	0427 484 454
Central Coast	Cody Wells	0407 370 775
Central Coast	Guy Mangan	0416 291 367
Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Greater Sydney and Illawarra	Jayden Patterson	0475 904 936
Central Coast	John Cartwright	02 9546 7022
Central Coast	Lachlan King	0456 354 146
Central Coast	Matthew Stopford	0404 765 286
Lake Macquarie, Newcastle area	Nathan Clarke	0432 692 650
Central Coast, Newcastle	Sam Marmulla	0457 223 389
Central Coast	Simon Treseder	0413 005 000
Central Coast	Thomas Whitehouse	0449 846 125
Central Coast	Tina Chenery	0425 237 682
Lake Macquarie, Newcastle area	William Davies	0412 291 197

Central West and Orana

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Orange and Bathurst area	Jennifer Billington	0409 227 179
Dubbo area	Kyle Lundholm	0447 986 352
Parkes area	Natika Davey	0420 425 833
Central West region	Peter Bennetts	0437 805 630
Lithgow, Bathurst, Blayney, Oberon, Sofala and everywhere within region	Scott Rummary	0420 835 981
Bathurst, Blayney, Lithgow, Mid-Western and Orange area	Stefanie Lesser	0477 997 361
Mudgee, Lower and Upper Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Kanangra and Cumberland areas	Troy Hovenden	0404 109 421

Hawkesbury

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Hawkesbury	Brett Pasfield	0409 199 456
Hawkesbury	Calista Vacopoulos	0427 775 959
Hawkesbury	Doreen McCulloch	0413 557 115
Hawkesbury	Elle & Tamara Venables	0420 301 667
Hawksbury, Greater Sydney and Blue Mountains	Joshua Newbert	0429 842 188
Hawkesbury	James Dawson	0432 359 851
Hawkesbury, Western Sydney and Blue Mountains	Shane Davies	0401 463 446
Hawkesbury & Cumberland, Lower and Upper Blue Mountains, Kanangra and Mudgee	Troy Hovenden	0404 109 421

Hunter

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Hunter region	Anil Lakkundi	0415 929 044
Hunter region	Barry Martin	0429 325 905
Newcastle	Bronte Hillen	0404 939 896
Port Stephens	Craig Regan	0426 535 505
Hunter area, Lake Macquarie and Newcastle	Coby Dorward	0422 771 200
Hunter region	Cody Merchant	0412 432 124
Lower Hunter	Cody Wells	0407 370 775
North-eastern suburbs of Lake Macquarie to Kurri Kurri	Dale Jackaman	0411 258 057
Lower Hunter Valley (Maitland and Cessnock)	Daniel Reardon	0432 539 940
Hunter region	Dennis Duncan	0413 616 973
Hunter region	Dylan Stuart	0466 694 540
Hunter Newcastle area	Edward Hartigan	0490 835 314
Lower Hunter, Barrington Tops and Wollemi/Yengo	Gary Bear	0421 911 940
Newcastle	Jake Hayman	02 4932 8939
Hunter Region	Jennifer Billington	0409 227 179
Twelve Mile Creek, Hunter and surrounds	Jordan Tumes	0472 703 161
Hunter region	Justin Lantry	0408 301 544
Branxton, Greta and Huntlee	Laurie Duggan	0423 804 100
Hunter region	Matthew Roffey	0456 968 595
Greater Port Stephens area	Mason Aurino	0412 392 883
Morisset (only)	Nicola Martin	0430 813 393
Upper and Lower Hunter	Peter Bryant	0427 280 300
Hunter region	Sam Marmulla	0457 223 389
Hunter Valley region	Scott Brydon	0429 902 341
Hunter region	Simon Treseder	0413 005 000
Newcastle Area, Lake Macquarie	William Davies	0412 291 197

Illawarra and Southern Highlands

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Illawarra, South Coast and Southern Highlands	Aiden Chehade	0414 254 395
Illawarra and South Coast	Amanda Dare	0428 618 007
Illawarra and Southern Highlands	Cory Kerewaro	0455 570 000
Illawarra and Southern Sydney	Dylan Cope	0400 739 462
Illawarra and Southern Highlands	Glen Peacock	0418 162 441
Port Kembla	Jarrad Prangell	0451 116 033
Illawarra, Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Greater Sydney	Jayden Patterson	0475 904 936
Wollongong, Blue Mountains and Sydney	John Cartwright	02 9546 7022
Southern Highlands	Mark Campbell	0418 456 312
Illawarra and Southern Highlands	Raymond McGibbon	0400 734 225

Mid-North Coast

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Coffs Harbour, Nambucca, Macksville and Bellingen areas	Adam Strickland	0459 632 710
Grafton	Matthew Morris	0419 941 118
Mid-North Coast	Isabella Morgan	0414 821 622
Manning-Hastings, Lower Macleay area	Stuart Johnson	0450 430 480

Murray Murrumbidgee

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Riverina area	Aidan Vivian	0408 334 829
Wagga Wagga area	Amber Barrile	0410 487 231
Cootamundra, Riverina region	Amour Renard	0421 449 451
Moama	Jade Walsh	0417 361 342
Wagga Wagga region	Joshua Thompson	0498 959 847
Moama	Naomi Walsh	0428 626 644
Corowa area	Nathan Newson	0418 499 996
Federation shire	Peter Baldwin	0408 177 129
Mulwala	Shanay Smyly	0428 140 885
Murrumbidgee	Shaun Minnick	0458 017 872
Murray	Tracey Geluk	0432 853 972

Northern Rivers

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Byron and Ballina shires	Artemis	0432 788 843
Northern Rivers	Christopher Drew	0435 558 311
Byron Bay and surrounds	Mark Badgery	0406 413 262
Woodenbong, Urbenville, Bonalbo and Tabulam	Mitchell Egger	0412 927 800
Byron and Tweed shires	Neil Walker	0422 131 528
Northern Rivers	Romilly Slade	0457 282 149
Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah and Brunswick Heads	Sarah Mailey	0474 280 344

Northern Tablelands

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
New England area	Jayden Wallis	0451 649 616
Quirindi area	Joshua Ferris	0400 164 156

Shoalhaven and South Coast

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
South Coast, Illawarra and Southern Highlands	Aiden Chehade	0414 254 395
South Coast and Illawarra	Amanda Dare	0428 618 007
Nowra region	Belinda Donovan	0402 755 462
Jervis Bay and St Georges Basin	Luke Humphries	0434 263 359
Shoalhaven	Shaun Armstrong	0468 488 448

South-East and Tablelands

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Canberra region	Gavin Smith	0450 210 090
Sapphire Coast and Bega Valley	Harrison Boyton	0400 355 998
Goulburn to Nerriga	Matthew Kane	0418 868 937
Bega	Phillip Sproates	0423 623 975 0435 804 191
Bungendore and Palerang region	Viven Laycock	0438 877 711 0488 984 067

Southwest NSW

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Curlwaa area and surrounds	Bradley Bowes	0409 276 464

Sydney

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Sydney Northwest, Sydney North Shore	Alex Be	0413 014 607
Wollondilly area	Andrew Dunkling	0400 040 030
Sydney – south	Andrew Melrose	0415 448 844
Sydney south west – Camden area only	Andrew Russell	0432 895 795
Greater Sydney, Liverpool and Penrith	Austin Pols	0428 024 516
Sydney	Benjamin Harvey	0414 200 273
Sydney – west and south-west	Cameron Constance	0435 571 201
Sydney	Charles Acheson	0417 776 226
Sydney	Chris Naylor	0450 608 853
Sydney	Chris Williams	0418 633 474
Sydney (all except the Northern Beaches)	Cory Kerewaro	0455 570 000
Camden and Campbelltown areas	Daniel May	0405 174 734
Southern Sydney and Illawarra	Dylan Cope	0400 739 462
Sutherland shire and surroundings suburbs	Gabriel Mendes	0438 677 620
Sydney – Northern Beaches	Glenn Nicholls	0416 275 261
Sydney – Wollondilly region	Jake Cooper	0430 536 516
Hills District	James Dawson	0432 359 851
Sydney	Jarad Cammish	0413 191 844
Greater Sydney, Illawarra, Central Coast and Blue Mountains	Jayden Patterson	0475 904 936
Sydney	Joachim Matthews	0423 192 379
Sydney – south	John Cartwright	02 9546 7022
Sydney	John Mostyn	0416 922 282
Sydney – west, Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury	Joshua Newbert	0429 842 188
Sydney	Kane Durrant	0414 089 920
Sydney, Northern Beaches	Michael Guidi	0457 300 500
Sydney	Ravi Singh	0425 280 184
Sydney	Sam Richardson	0466 634 683
Sydney	Sean Cade	0410 761 575
Westen Sydney, Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains	Shane Davies	0401 463 446
Sydney – south	Tyler Gibbons	0428 458 856

Western NSW

Area of operation	Licensee name	Contact number
Sunraysia region	Krutarth Macwan	0413 160 131

More information

Wildlife Team

Phone: 02 9585 6406

Email: [email protected]

Updated 06 February 2026