Off-road vehicles legislation
The Act:
- prohibits the use of off-road vehicles in certain places
- makes provisions for the use of off-road vehicles other than on a road
- provides for areas where the use of off-road vehicles is permitted
- provides requirements for the registration of off-road vehicles.
The Act and associated regulations apply throughout Western Australia. These are available from the
State Law Publisher.
Permitted areas
Permitted
areas are established under the provisions of the Act and are the areas
where registered off-road vehicles, as well as licensed on‑road
vehicles, are allowed to be operated. Private land can only be declared
as a permitted area with the written authorisation of the owner.
Restrictions may be placed on the type of off-road vehicle that can use a
specific permitted area. For example, area may be restricted to
motorcycles of a certain size and noise output.
The current publicly available permitted areas and the respective land manager include:
Prohibited areas
All
vehicles, including licensed on-road vehicles, may be forbidden from
prohibited areas, whether or not the land is private, if the Minister for Local Government is of the opinion that public interest requires it
to be done. This can only be exercised over private land without the
consent of the owner and occupier for the following reasons:
- need to protect livestock or preserve wildlife
- environmentally sensitive nature of the land
- proximity of the land to residential development
- provisions of any town planning scheme.
A
person who is the owner or occupier of land declared a prohibited area
or worker for such a person has the right to use a vehicle on that land.
Prohibited areas may be declared so that they apply to limited classes
of vehicles. The full list of prohibited areas is available from the department.
Advisory committee
An advisory committee is appointed under the Act and is responsible
for providing advice and recommendations to the Minister for Local
Government in relation to the use of land by off-road vehicles,
including the declaration of prohibited and permitted areas.
Local laws
Local
governments can enact local laws and are responsible for enforcing the Act. Local laws enacted by a local government apply only to the
area administered by that local government and are not statewide laws.
Information about local laws relating to permitted/prohibited areas for
off-road vehicles can be obtained from the relevant
local government.