Three animals, three addresses
The official pages describe each of these animals by where it chooses to live, and in an apartment building those places are very different: a kitchen cupboard, a roof cavity, a drain. The chart below puts them side by side, using only what the Australian Museum and Victoria’s Department of Health say.
| Animal | Where it lives | How to tell it | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| German cockroach | Anywhere in the home, most commonly the kitchen, often inside cupboards, drawers and electrical appliances; in large groups near warm spots like water heaters. | About 1.5 cm long. Victoria’s Department of Health describes a fully grown one as amber, 12 to 15 millimetres long, with two dark stripes running lengthwise. | The Australian Museum calls it the hardest pest cockroach to get rid of and the most troublesome in Sydney. |
| Black rat | Roofs, cavity walls, trees, scrapes or burrows; very agile climbers, common in urban areas and spread through much of coastal Australia. | Usually brown or grey despite its name; long pointed head; large thin ears; a scaly tail much longer than its head and body. | Nocturnal, but often seen during the day. |
| Brown rat | Under bushes, in sewers and other urban sites, or in deep burrows; common in coastal urban areas. | Blunt muzzle, medium ears, shaggy grey-brown fur, and a short scaly tail, shorter than its body. | An introduced rodent, closely associated with people. |
Cockroaches: kitchens, water and warmth
Cockroaches prefer kitchens and other food preparation areas, where they can feed on spills and reach water, the Better Health Channel says. Its list of hiding spots includes cracks in walls, behind the refrigerator, kitchen cupboards, below sinks, around water heaters, and in drains and grease traps. The same page notes that cockroaches are cold-blooded and thrive in warm, humid conditions.
The page is cautious about disease: it says it is believed that cockroaches spread a number of diseases to people, including salmonella and gastroenteritis, and that recent studies indicate they can also cause allergies.
What the Better Health Channel suggests
- Clean the house thoroughly at least weekly, with special attention to the kitchen and under the fridge, stove, toaster and other movable appliances.
- Empty the kitchen bin regularly, don’t leave pet food out, clean up spills promptly and store food in sealed containers.
- Fix dripping taps, since cockroaches need a steady water supply to survive.
- Repair holes, cracks or gaps in walls, skirting boards and inside cupboards, and don’t stack newspapers, magazines or cardboard boxes.
For a heavy infestation, the page says professional treatment by a licensed pest control operator will be needed. In NSW, that licence is issued by the EPA, and panel 04 shows how to check one.
Rats: the bin room and the roof
“Rats are attracted to poor waste management to feed and nest,” the City of Sydney says on its pest page. Its advice: keep pet food inside, keep land clean and in good condition, make sure waste is contained in bins, and pest-proof a property with solid, durable materials and screens to keep rodents out.
Its page on rat complaints explains why rats in a shared building can take time to resolve. The council looks first at food or waste sources, waste storage practices, construction activity and property or site conditions. Responsibility may sit with a business, a property owner, several neighbouring properties or a shared public space, and rats move between private property and public areas.
The City of Sydney is one council, and its pages describe its own programs. It says vermin on private land is the landowner’s responsibility, that it does not offer pest control on private property, and that it can investigate when pests on private property put the community’s health and safety at risk. Your own council’s website is the place to check what it does where you live.
Telling the two rats apart
The Australian Museum’s two pages give the clearest test: the tail. A black rat’s scaly tail is much longer than its head and body; a brown rat’s is shorter than its body. The black rat has large thin ears and a long pointed head; the brown rat has a blunt muzzle and medium ears. Both have a pair of chisel-shaped front teeth with hard yellow enamel.
That difference matters in a building. A black rat lives in roofs and cavity walls and climbs well; a brown rat shelters in sewers and burrows. Which parts of the building those are, and who looks after them, is the subject of panel 02.
In a shared building
An apartment is one lot inside a larger scheme. In NSW, owners look after anything in their own property and the owners corporation looks after common property; tenants ask their landlord or agent. If you see something on common property that needs repairing, Fair Trading’s advice is to tell the building manager, strata manager or strata committee.
If the building is treated in its common areas, residents in NSW get notice first. Panel 05 has the notice rules.