Western Australia, WA

Can I short-term rent in Western Australia?

Restricted

Short-term rental accommodation (STRA) is legal statewide but every property, hosted or unhosted, must be on the mandatory STRA Register since 1 January 2025. Hosted STRA is exempt from planning approval everywhere; unhosted STRA in the 30 Perth-metro local governments is exempt from development approval only up to 90 nights per year (from 1 January 2026), beyond which approval is required, while regional/outside-Perth councils set their own thresholds.

Last verified 2026-07-24 against official sources. Every fact below links to where it comes from.

The rules, fact by fact

Rule	What applies	Applies to	Since	Source
Registration	All STRA premises, hosted or unhosted, must be on the state STRA Register. Under the Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act 2024, every accommodation provider must register residential premises used as STRA (defined in s.4(1) of the Act as an arrangement providing occupation to the same person(s) for no more than a total of 3 months in a 12-month period) before offering or advertising them. The Register opened for voluntary sign-up on 1 July 2024 (free for Jul-Sep 2024) and registration became mandatory from 1 January 2025. Excludes hotels/motels, serviced apartments, caravan parks and purpose-built tourist developments. Applications must disclose whether the property is in a strata/community titles scheme and whether scheme by-laws prohibit STRA use. A public search tool lets anyone check if an address is registered (without revealing owner details). Exceptions: Hotels, motels, serviced apartments, caravan/tourist parks and other purpose-built tourism accommodation are excluded from the definition of STRA and do not need to register.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-01-01	State Gov
Registration	Initial registration fee $250, annual renewal $100. The STRA Register (run by the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety / Consumer Protection) charges a $250 initial registration fee per premises and a $100 annual renewal fee. Individual owners and businesses/property managers set up a WA 'My Account' (Individual or Business user) to register and manage listings online.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-01-01	State Gov
Planning approval	Unhosted STRA in the 30 Perth-metro councils needs development approval beyond 90 nights/year. Under the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Amendment (Short-Term Rental Accommodation) Regulations 2024, an unhosted STRA property within the 30 named Perth metropolitan local government areas (confirmed list: Armadale, Bayswater, Belmont, Bassendean, Cambridge, Canning, Claremont, Cockburn, Cottesloe, East Fremantle, Fremantle, Gosnells, Joondalup, Kalamunda, Kwinana, Melville, Mosman Park, Mundaring, Nedlands, Peppermint Grove, Perth, Rockingham, Serpentine-Jarrahdale, South Perth, Stirling, Subiaco, Swan, Wanneroo, Victoria Park, Vincent) is exempt from needing development/planning approval only where it is let for 90 nights or fewer (non-consecutive) in a 12-month period. Beyond 90 nights, development approval from the local council is required before continuing to operate. Registration on the STRA Register remains mandatory regardless of the night count. The source page confirms the 90-night figure and council list verbatim but does not itself state a literal '1 January 2026' commencement sentence, the 1 Jan 2026 date is inferred from the page's own 'now in effect' wording combined with its 5 January 2026 last-updated stamp, so it should be treated as strongly corroborated rather than verbatim-confirmed. Exceptions: Hosted STRA is exempt from this trigger regardless of nights let. Councils outside the defined Perth metro area are not bound by the 90-night figure. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Non-hosted	2026-01-01	State Gov
Planning approval	Regional/outside-Perth-metro councils set their own unhosted STRA approval thresholds. Local governments outside the 30 defined Perth-metro councils (including Peel and South West regional areas) are not bound by the 90-night state threshold and retain discretion to set their own local planning scheme requirements/thresholds for unhosted STRA approval based on local housing and tourism conditions. Operators must check with their specific council for the applicable local trigger. Exceptions: Varies by council; no single statewide figure applies outside Perth metro. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Non-hosted	n/a	State Gov
Hosted vs non-hosted	Hosted STRA (owner on-site) is exempt from planning approval statewide; unhosted is not. 'Hosted' STRA, where the owner/operator resides on the property during the guest's stay, is exempt from development approval requirements across all of WA (but must still be registered). 'Unhosted' STRA, where guests have exclusive use of the whole dwelling, is subject to night-cap-based planning triggers that differ between the Perth metropolitan area and regional/other council areas.	Hosted & non-hosted	2024-01-01	State Gov
Levies & taxes	WA has no state-wide short-stay levy or STRA-specific tax as of July 2026. Unlike VIC (7.5% short-stay levy) and ACT (5% levy), Western Australia has not legislated a state short-term rental levy or STRA-specific tax. A direct check of the WA STRA Register overview page found no mention of any levy or tax. No primary-source evidence of a planned WA state STR levy was found during this research; the regulatory focus in WA is registration and planning controls, not a levy. This remains an absence-of-evidence conclusion rather than a sourced 'confirmed no levy' statement from WA Treasury, re-check periodically given other states are moving in this direction. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	State Gov
Fire safety	STRA properties must have compliant mains-powered smoke alarms under WA's general rental smoke-alarm rules. WA's rental smoke alarm requirements (administered by Consumer Protection under the Building Regulations 2012 / Health Act smoke alarm provisions) apply to any home rented or hired out, explicitly including homes made available for short-term rental accommodation. Alarms must be compliant with building laws, less than 10 years old, in working order and permanently connected to mains power. Non-compliance can draw a $1,000 infringement notice, with owners/landlords offering non-compliant dwellings for hire facing fines up to $5,000. This is WA's general rental-housing smoke alarm regime rather than an STRA-specific fire code. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is medium. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	State Gov
Insurance	No WA state-mandated STRA-specific insurance requirement was confirmed from primary sources. No provision of the STRA Act 2024, its Regulations, or wa.gov.au/consumerprotection.wa.gov.au guidance sighted during this research imposes a specific mandatory insurance product or minimum coverage level on STRA operators (contrast with some US state STR regimes). A direct check of the WA STRA Register overview page found no mention of an insurance requirement. This is recorded as unconfirmed absence rather than a verified 'no requirement', the full Regulations PDF was partially reviewed (suspension/cancellation and disclosure clauses located) but an exhaustive clause-by-clause read for an insurance mandate was not completed. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is low. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	State Gov
Strata / owners corporation	Strata/community-titles by-laws that prohibit STRA override registration and can trigger cancellation. Under the Short-Term Rental Accommodation Regulations 2024 (reg. 7, 'Suspension or cancellation of registration', and reg. 12, 'Disclosure of information: community titles schemes and strata titles schemes', both confirmed present in the official Regulations PDF), if a property is a lot within a strata scheme (Strata Titles Act 1985) or community titles scheme (Community Titles Act 2018) whose applicable by-laws prohibit use of the lot as STRA, the Commissioner may cancel or suspend that property's STRA registration on that ground. Registration applications must disclose whether the premises are in a strata/community scheme and whether the scheme by-laws prohibit STRA use. A state registration does not override a strata scheme's own by-law ban.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-01-01	Legislation
Code of conduct	The Act enables (but has not yet activated) a mandatory STRA code of conduct via regulation. Section 49 of the STRA Act 2024 empowers the making of regulations to establish a code of conduct for STRA participants, with registration suspension/cancellation as an enforcement mechanism for breaches. As of this record no specific STRA code of conduct instrument (distinct from NSW's code) was confirmed as in force under this regulation-making power; treat as a reserved power pending further regulation. ⚠ Our confidence in this fact is low. Confirm with the source before relying on it.	Hosted & non-hosted	n/a	Legislation
Penalties	Operating or advertising an unregistered STRA property attracts fines up to $20,000 per offence. The STRA Act 2024 creates multiple $20,000 offences, confirmed verbatim against the Act text: an accommodation provider entering/seeking to enter an STRA arrangement for unregistered premises (s.9, 'a fine of $20 000'); publishing a 'prohibited advertisement' by a provider or agent (s.10), in a publication (s.11), on a booking platform (s.12), or failing to remove one (ss.13-14), each 'a fine of $20 000'; making false claims about registration (s.16, 'a fine of $20 000'); and providing false or misleading information to the Commissioner (s.40, 'a fine of $20 000'). Failing to notify the Commissioner of required events carries a $5,000 fine (s.28, confirmed verbatim); unauthorised disclosure of register information carries a $25,000 fine (s.39, confirmed verbatim). From 1 January 2026, booking platforms (e.g. Airbnb, Stayz) must verify WA listings appear on the Register and are prohibited from publishing/allowing bookings for unregistered properties, with the same $20,000 penalty regime applying to platforms and their agents. It is a defence if the accused shows the prohibited ad was removed as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the breach. Exceptions: Defence available where the prohibited advertisement was removed as soon as practicable after the provider/platform became aware of the issue.	Hosted & non-hosted	2025-01-01	Legislation

Fees

STRA Register initial registration fee: $250 per premises source
STRA Register annual renewal fee: $100 per premises per year source

Penalties

Operating/entering an STRA arrangement for an unregistered property (s.9): Fine up to $20,000 source
Publishing a prohibited advertisement (accommodation provider, ad-publication owner, or booking platform, ss.10-14): Fine up to $20,000 source
False claims about registration status (s.16) / false or misleading information to Commissioner (s.40): Fine up to $20,000 source
Failure to notify Commissioner of a required event (s.28): Fine up to $5,000 source
Unauthorised disclosure of register information (s.39): Fine up to $25,000 source
Non-compliant smoke alarm on a rented dwelling (general rental rule, applies to STRA): $1,000 infringement notice; landlord/owner offering non-compliant dwelling for hire faces fines up to $5,000 source

What's changed in Western Australia

2026-01-01 Perth-metro (30 local governments) unhosted STRA planning exemption threshold of 90 nights/year took effect, beyond 90 nights, development approval is required. Booking platforms also became required to verify WA listings are on the Register and barred from advertising unregistered properties from this date. source
2025-01-01 STRA Register became mandatory statewide (both hosted and unhosted) with $250 initial / $100/yr renewal fees, after opening for free voluntary registration from 1 July 2024. source

Host checklist for Western Australia

All STRA premises, hosted or unhosted, must be on the state STRA Register. official page
Initial registration fee $250, annual renewal $100. official page
Unhosted STRA in the 30 Perth-metro councils needs development approval beyond 90 nights/year. official page
Regional/outside-Perth-metro councils set their own unhosted STRA approval thresholds. official page
WA has no state-wide short-stay levy or STRA-specific tax as of July 2026. official page
STRA properties must have compliant mains-powered smoke alarms under WA's general rental smoke-alarm rules. official page
No WA state-mandated STRA-specific insurance requirement was confirmed from primary sources. official page
Confirm anything marked below high confidence directly with your council.

Common questions

Do I need to register my short-term rental in Western Australia?

All STRA premises, hosted or unhosted, must be on the state STRA Register. Exceptions: Hotels, motels, serviced apartments, caravan/tourist parks and other purpose-built tourism accommodation are excluded from the definition of STRA and do not need to register.

Do I need council or planning approval to short-term rent in Western Australia?

Unhosted STRA in the 30 Perth-metro councils needs development approval beyond 90 nights/year. Exceptions: Hosted STRA is exempt from this trigger regardless of nights let. Councils outside the defined Perth metro area are not bound by the 90-night figure.

Can my strata or owners corporation stop me short-term renting in Western Australia?

Strata/community-titles by-laws that prohibit STRA override registration and can trigger cancellation.

What fire safety requirements apply to short-term rentals in Western Australia?

STRA properties must have compliant mains-powered smoke alarms under WA's general rental smoke-alarm rules.

Is there a levy or tax on short-stay bookings in Western Australia?

WA has no state-wide short-stay levy or STRA-specific tax as of July 2026.

Spotted something out of date? Rules change fast. That is the whole reason this site exists. Report an error and we will re-verify against the official source.