World Rabies Day is celebrated every year on the 28th September – the anniversary of the death of Louis Pasteur (who developed the first rabies vaccine), to raise awareness about rabies prevention and to highlight progress in defeating this disease. This year, the theme focuses on the need for collaboration of animal and human health professionals in eliminating rabies to achieve the global goal of ‘Zero by 30’ – global elimination of dog-mediated rabies deaths by 2030, the most common cause of transmission. Today, safe and efficacious animal and human vaccines are among the important tools that exist to eliminate human deaths from rabies while awareness is the key driver for success of communities to engage in effective rabies prevention. While Australia is fortunate that it does not have rabies, Australia still needs to remain alert to the potential risk of rabies reaching its shores.