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Transportable home rules in Western Australia

From Modular Living Australia — the independent knowledge base Last updated: 8 Oct 2026

In Western Australia all caravan and camping use is regulated by the Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Act 1995, under which a dwelling is treated as a caravan, a camp or a building rather than as a "tiny home", and caravan parks must be licensed by their local government each year.^[1] A building in a park needs Building Code compliance and a Building Act 2011 permit, and caravan parks have been prohibited from strata titling since 1 July 1997.^[2][3]

Western Australia has given local governments unusually direct advice about this housing type: stop using the term "tiny home". The state's position is that a dwelling is legally a caravan, a camp, or a building — and that the marketing word obscures which of the three applies. That instruction is the most useful starting point available in any Australian jurisdiction, because it names the actual question rather than the product.

Three categories, and the phrase to avoid §

The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries administers the Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Act 1995, and all camping and caravan use in the state is regulated by it^[1].

On dwellings that do not obviously fit, the department's position is explicit: where a tiny home does not fit the statutory definition of a caravan or a camp, the Act cannot apply. Depending on the nature of the structure it may still be subject to building approvals or other building requirements. Local governments are encouraged to avoid the phrase "tiny home" and, depending on the design, to refer to the dwelling as a caravan, a camp or a building^[1].

For a buyer this is worth translating into a question to put to a supplier: which of the three is this, and on what basis? A supplier who answers "it's a tiny home" has not answered.

The department also describes micro camping — a landowner allowing people to camp on, or stay in, a caravan or other form of dwelling for a fee^[1] — which is the arrangement many informal siting offers actually amount to.

Licensing, and what happens outside a park §

All caravan parks must be licensed by their local governments, with the licence renewed annually. The complete list of standards is set out in the Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997, and additional standards can be imposed depending on the terms of the park's licence^[1].

A licence under the Act is required to operate a caravan park or camping ground. The Act does provide several ways caravans can be used outside licensed parks, but those exemptions are designed for the benefit of tourists or for unique cases involving single caravans — allowing multiple caravans on a property requires the property to be licensed and to meet health and safety standards. Local government issues, renews and cancels licences and should be the first point of contact^[2].

The practical reading is that the exemptions will not support a plan to place several dwellings on a rural block as an income arrangement. That is a park, and it needs a licence.

Construction standards §

Two requirements operate in parallel.

The Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations require that any person who constructs, assembles or carries out any work on a park home must do so in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Building Code^[3].

Separately, buildings within a park need to be built in accordance with the Building Code of Australia and require a permit under the Building Act 2011, with local government retaining discretion to approve other buildings on the facility where that is consistent with local planning schemes^[2].

The Act itself provides for the licensing of park operators and regulates the standard of park infrastructure^[3] — so the park, the park home and any conventional building on the site are each covered by their own requirement.

Long-stay tenancy §

Where the arrangement is residential rather than holiday, the Residential Parks (Long-stay Tenants) Act 2006 applies. It focuses on the contractual relationship between park operators and tenants, seeking to balance residents' desire for security of tenure and certainty of contract against support for maintaining existing and developing new residential parks. The Regulations include, as schedules, four standard contracts setting out the clauses and information that must be included^[4].

A long-stay agreement is a fixed or periodic tenancy of three months or longer, other than for a holiday, at a caravan park. The State Administrative Tribunal may make orders in disputes arising from these agreements, including for recovery of rent, abandonment of premises, compensation payable to a tenant or park operator, vacant possession and termination^[5].

The Tribunal also reviews decisions under the Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Act about the granting, renewal or cancellation of licences, prohibition notices and work specification notices, and local government decisions about whether a park has been substantially extended or redeveloped^[5].

The existence of four prescribed standard contracts^[4] is worth knowing before signing anything: the document should look like one of them, and a form that does not is a reason to take advice.

Caravan parks cannot be strata titled §

Since 1 July 1997 the strata titling of caravan parks has been prohibited under the Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Act 1995^[3].

This is a structural fact about the tenure rather than a detail. It means a Western Australian park home site cannot be converted into an individually owned lot: the resident owns the dwelling and holds a tenancy over the site, and no pathway exists to turn that into title. Anyone weighing a park home against a conventional purchase should factor that in — the resale and equity consequences are covered in Valuation and resale of modular homes.

What is not covered here §

This guide does not reproduce the statutory definitions of "caravan" or "camp", the detail of the Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997, or the standard long-stay contract terms; the legislation and the department's publications are the authorities.

Also not covered by the sources compiled here: the approval pathway for a transportable dwelling on ordinary private land in Western Australia outside a park, which is a building and planning question for the local government; park closure and relocation rights; fees and licence conditions, which vary between local governments; and the interaction with the ancillary dwelling provisions, which are covered in Granny flat rules in Western Australia.

References §