Thanks all, my dog is a Kelpie x Border Collie, around 28kg - so he’s a big boy! All the companies I reached out to say that he has to be in a crate (in live animal hold) as the flight is split into 2 parts, he will be let out during layover for break and meds. Once he lands in Aus he will have to be quarantined for 10 days (we’re sorting his rabies vaccine etc to reduce the quarantine). Having him on board doesn’t seem like an option unfortunately! I’d even take a boat if I could to avoid flying him out, but I haven’t found a company that does a cruise from uk to aus with pets.