Sleeping in your car in Western Australia
In Western Australia a person may camp only at a site in a licensed caravan park or camping ground, or in accordance with regulation 11. If a council officer gives you an infringement notice, the amount is $200 and paying it ends the matter; the officer may instead prosecute, and a court can fine up to $2 000. In these regulations camping includes camping in a vehicle, so sleeping in a car, van or motorhome is covered by the same rule as pitching a tent.
Find a 24-hour rest area No vehicle tonight?
Signs override this page. Whatever is signed at the site is the rule that applies, no matter what is written here.
The 44 sites recorded for a 24-hour stay Every stopping place, mapped Sleeping in your car in WA Free showers Libraries Asked to move on?
The rule, and the exception
One of the situations regulation 11 allows is camping for up to 24 consecutive hours in a caravan or other vehicle on a road side rest area.
The regulations define a road side rest area as an area designated by a traffic sign, erected in accordance with a written law, as an area that may be used for 24 hours for resting, stopping or camping in a vehicle. The traffic sign is what brings a place within the exception.
Read those two together and the WA position falls out. The exception is not attached to places called rest areas; it is attached to places signed for a 24-hour stay. That is why Main Roads records a 24-hour stay at 44 of its 1,673 stopping places, and not the rest.
What that means for the map
Most WA stopping places are pull-offs for a short break, not places the regulations bring inside the 24-hour exception. This site therefore does not present them as overnight stops. The 44 sites where a 24-hour stay is recorded have their own pages; every other stopping place is listed on its council page with its facilities, so you can find a break without being told you may stay.
The council layer
Each Western Australian local government also makes its own local laws. One has been read: Stirling. Every council area in the table below is marked unknown, and unknown never means permitted.
Quick answers
Is it legal to sleep in your car in Western Australia?
In Western Australia a person may camp only at a site in a licensed caravan park or camping ground, or in accordance with regulation 11. If a council officer gives you an infringement notice, the amount is $200 and paying it ends the matter; the officer may instead prosecute, and a court can fine up to $2 000. In these regulations camping includes camping in a vehicle, so sleeping in a car, van or motorhome is covered by the same rule as pitching a tent. Regulation 11 also allows up to 24 consecutive hours in a caravan or other vehicle on a road reserve in an emergency, unless doing so would cause a hazard to other road users or contravene another written law about the use of the road reserve. For that exception the regulations define an emergency only as a situation where moving the caravan or other vehicle to a more suitable area would be an immediate and serious hazard because of the condition of the vehicle, a vehicle towing it, or its driver or passengers.
“A person may camp only — (a) at a site in a caravan park or camping ground, as appropriate, licensed under the Act; or (b) in accordance with regulation 11. Penalty: a fine of $2 000.” “PART 2 — REGULATIONS” “2. Regulation 10 ......................................................................... 200” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
“camp when used as a verb, includes to camp in a vehicle.” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
“for up to 24 consecutive hours in a caravan or other vehicle on a road reserve in an emergency, unless to do so would cause a hazard to other road users or contravene any other written law with respect to the use of the road reserve” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
“emergency means a situation where to move the caravan or other vehicle to a more suitable area would constitute an immediate and serious hazard due to the condition of the caravan or other vehicle, or a vehicle towing the caravan, or of the driver, or passengers, of any such vehicle;” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
How long can I stay at a rest area in Western Australia?
In Western Australia, one of the situations regulation 11 allows is camping for up to 24 consecutive hours in a caravan or other vehicle on a road side rest area. The regulations define a road side rest area as an area designated by a traffic sign, erected in accordance with a written law, as an area that may be used for 24 hours for resting, stopping or camping in a vehicle. The traffic sign is what brings a place within the exception.
“for up to 24 consecutive hours in a caravan or other vehicle on a road side rest area” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
“road side rest area means an area designated by a traffic sign erected in accordance with a written law, as an area which may be used for 24 hours for — (a) resting; or (b) stopping; or (c) camping, in a vehicle;” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
How long can a move on order keep me away in Western Australia?
A Western Australian move on order can require a person to stay away from the place, or a specified part of it, for a specified reasonable period of not more than 24 hours.
“to stay away from the relevant place or vehicle, or a specified part of the relevant place or vehicle, for a specified reasonable period of not more than 24 hours” — Criminal Investigation Act 2006 (official version), Western Australian Government — Parliamentary Counsel’s Office. Retrieved 1 Sep 2026.
Stopping places by council
| Local government area | Stopping places | Local laws |
|---|---|---|
| Albany | 22 | unknown |
| Armadale | 11 | unknown |
| Ashburton | 82 | unknown |
| Augusta - Margaret River | 15 | unknown |
| Belmont | 1 | unknown |
| Beverley | 6 | unknown |
| Boddington | 12 | unknown |
| Boyup Brook | 7 | unknown |
| Bridgetown - Greenbushes | 12 | unknown |
| Brookton | 7 | unknown |
| Broome | 48 | unknown |
| Broomehill - Tambellup | 11 | unknown |
| Bruce Rock | 11 | unknown |
| Bunbury | 7 | unknown |
| Busselton | 13 | unknown |
| Capel | 7 | unknown |
| Carnamah | 7 | unknown |
| Carnarvon | 68 | unknown |
| Chapman Valley | 4 | unknown |
| Chittering | 11 | unknown |
| Collie | 3 | unknown |
| Coolgardie | 27 | unknown |
| Coorow | 14 | unknown |
| Corrigin | 10 | unknown |
| Cranbrook | 11 | unknown |
| Cuballing | 7 | unknown |
| Cue | 7 | unknown |
| Cunderdin | 6 | unknown |
| Dalwallinu | 13 | unknown |
| Dandaragan | 23 | unknown |
| Dardanup | 6 | unknown |
| Denmark | 8 | unknown |
| Derby - West Kimberley | 37 | unknown |
| Donnybrook - Balingup | 11 | unknown |
| Dowerin | 6 | unknown |
| Dumbleyung | 11 | unknown |
| Dundas | 83 | unknown |
| East Pilbara | 45 | unknown |
| Esperance | 25 | unknown |
| Exmouth | 20 | unknown |
| Gingin | 15 | unknown |
| Gnowangerup | 19 | unknown |
| Goomalling | 13 | unknown |
| Gosnells | 1 | unknown |
| Greater Geraldton | 32 | unknown |
| Halls Creek | 34 | unknown |
| Harvey | 23 | unknown |
| Irwin | 15 | unknown |
| Jerramungup | 17 | unknown |
| Kalgoorlie - Boulder | 16 | unknown |
| Karratha | 42 | unknown |
| Katanning | 2 | unknown |
| Kellerberrin | 10 | unknown |
| Kent | 8 | unknown |
| Kojonup | 13 | unknown |
| Kondinin | 13 | unknown |
| Kulin | 7 | unknown |
| Lake Grace | 23 | unknown |
| Laverton | 6 | unknown |
| Leonora | 30 | unknown |
| Mandurah | 2 | unknown |
| Manjimup | 23 | unknown |
| Meekatharra | 30 | unknown |
| Menzies | 7 | unknown |
| Merredin | 15 | unknown |
| Mingenew | 5 | unknown |
| Moora | 13 | unknown |
| Morawa | 8 | unknown |
| Mount Magnet | 22 | unknown |
| Mundaring | 6 | unknown |
| Murray | 13 | unknown |
| Nannup | 9 | unknown |
| Narrogin | 6 | unknown |
| Northam | 13 | unknown |
| Northampton | 24 | unknown |
| Nungarin | 1 | unknown |
| Perenjori | 7 | unknown |
| Pingelly | 3 | unknown |
| Plantagenet | 19 | unknown |
| Port Hedland | 34 | unknown |
| Quairading | 7 | unknown |
| Ravensthorpe | 32 | unknown |
| Rockingham | 6 | unknown |
| Sandstone | 17 | unknown |
| Serpentine - Jarrahdale | 11 | unknown |
| Shark Bay | 32 | unknown |
| Swan | 15 | unknown |
| Tammin | 5 | unknown |
| Three Springs | 4 | unknown |
| Toodyay | 6 | unknown |
| Trayning | 6 | unknown |
| Victoria Plains | 10 | unknown |
| Wagin | 6 | unknown |
| Wandering | 9 | unknown |
| Waroona | 15 | unknown |
| West Arthur | 14 | unknown |
| Westonia | 4 | unknown |
| Wickepin | 5 | unknown |
| Williams | 18 | unknown |
| Wiluna | 9 | unknown |
| Wongan - Ballidu | 6 | unknown |
| Woodanilling | 7 | unknown |
| Wyalkatchem | 4 | unknown |
| Wyndham - East Kimberley | 31 | unknown |
| Yalgoo | 30 | unknown |
| Yilgarn | 23 | unknown |
| York | 7 | unknown |
Where this comes from
- “A person may camp only — (a) at a site in a caravan park or camping ground, as appropriate, licensed under the Act; or (b) in accordance with regulation 11. Penalty: a fine of $2 000.” “PART 2 — REGULATIONS” “2. Regulation 10 ......................................................................... 200” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
- “statutory penalty, in relation to an offence, means the penalty specified by a written law for the offence;” “If the statutory penalty for an offence is a fine of a particular amount or a particular term of imprisonment, then that penalty is the maximum penalty that may be imposed for that offence and, unless the statutory penalty — (a) is a mandatory penalty; or (b) includes a minimum penalty, a lesser penalty of the same kind may be imposed.” — Sentencing Act 1995 (WA), compilation 10-ag0-00, as at 31 December 2025 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
- “The offences set out in column 1 of Schedule 4 are prescribed to be offences in respect of which an infringement notice may be given under section 23 of the Act.” “The modified penalty set out in column 2 of Schedule 4 opposite an offence referred to in column 1 is the prescribed modified penalty for that offence for the purposes of section 23(4) of the Act.” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
- “Every proceeding for an offence under this Act may be taken by an authorised person.” “A reference in subsection (2), (3), (5) or (7) to an authorised person is a reference to a person appointed to be an authorised person under the Local Government Act 1995 section 9.10(2) for the purposes of the subsection in which the term is used.” “An authorised person who has reason to believe that a person has committed a prescribed offence against this Act may, within 21 days after the alleged offence is believed to have been committed, give an infringement notice to the alleged offender.” “to advise that if the alleged offender does not wish to be prosecuted for the alleged offence in a court, the amount of money as specified in the notice as being the modified penalty for the offence may be paid to an authorised person within a period of 28 days after the giving of the notice;” “If the modified penalty specified in an infringement notice has been paid within 28 days or such further time as is allowed and the notice has not been withdrawn, the bringing of proceedings and the imposition of penalties are prevented to the same extent as they would be if the alleged offender had been convicted by a court of, and punished for, the alleged offence.” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Act 1995 (WA), compilation 03-e0-00, as at 7 November 2020 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
- “camp when used as a verb, includes to camp in a vehicle.” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
- “for up to 24 consecutive hours in a caravan or other vehicle on a road side rest area” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
- “road side rest area means an area designated by a traffic sign erected in accordance with a written law, as an area which may be used for 24 hours for — (a) resting; or (b) stopping; or (c) camping, in a vehicle;” — Caravan Parks and Camping Grounds Regulations 1997 (WA), compilation 02-i0-00, as at 1 September 2024 (official version), Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office. Retrieved 12 Oct 2026.
- Stopping place locations, facilities and 24-hour stay status: Road Stopping Places, Main Roads Western Australia (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 30 Aug 2026.