Wongan - Ballidu: sleeping in your car
Local laws: unknown
We have not read Wongan - Ballidu's local laws, so this page claims nothing about them. They sit on top of the state regulations below and can be stricter. Unknown does not mean permitted.
Signs override this page. Whatever is signed at the site is the rule that applies, no matter what is written here.
What applies here regardless
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.
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.
Stopping places in this council area (6)
None of them is recorded by Main Roads as allowing a 24-hour stay.
| Stopping place | Road | Type | 24-hour stay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rest area near Kondut | Northam Pithara Rd | Minor Rest Area | No 24-hour stay recorded |
| Rest area near Kondut | Northam Pithara Rd | Heavy Vehicle Rest Area | No 24-hour stay recorded |
| Rest area near Lake Ninan | Northam Pithara Rd | Heavy Vehicle Rest Area | No 24-hour stay recorded |
| Rest area near Mocardy | Northam Pithara Rd | Minor Rest Area | No 24-hour stay recorded |
| Rest area near West Ballidu | Northam Pithara Rd | Minor Rest Area | No 24-hour stay recorded |
| Rest area near Wongan Hills | Northam Pithara Rd | Minor Rest Area | No 24-hour stay recorded |
Where two rows read alike, they are two separate stopping places on the same road in the same locality. Main Roads publishes no name for either and no site identifier but an internal GUID, so there is nothing further to tell them apart with — and inventing a distinction would be worse than showing the pair.
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.
- “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.