WA rental laws for landlords: the no-grounds ban that hasn't actually happened
Western Australia announced it would ban no-grounds evictions — but no bill has been drafted or introduced, and the old rules still apply. A landlord's guide to the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 as it actually stands.
Western Australia is the state where the gap between "what's been announced" and "what's actually law" matters most right now. Get this one wrong and you'll plan around a rule that doesn't exist yet.
No-grounds evictions: still valid, despite the headlines
WA has announced it intends to ban no-grounds terminations, and that announcement is what most secondhand content picks up and repeats as settled fact. It isn't. Consumer Protection WA's own position is that the no-grounds route "remains valid" — no bill has been drafted, let alone introduced to parliament. Western Australia and the Northern Territory are now the only two jurisdictions where no-grounds terminations are still available. Every other state and the ACT has closed that door. If you're planning around WA following the rest of the country, don't — not yet, and there's no timeline for when that might change.
No minimum standards list
Unlike Victoria, Queensland or NSW, Western Australia doesn't prescribe a checklist of minimum conditions a rental has to meet. Tasmania is the only other jurisdiction in the same position.
Entry: once every three months
Routine inspections are capped at once per quarter, the same frequency as Queensland and Tasmania.
Pets: 14 days, with a bond option
A pet request gets the standard 14 days of silence-equals-consent, and a written refusal is enough on its own. Where WA differs from most of the country: it allows a separate pet bond, up to $350, on top of the standard bond.
Bonds
Four weeks' rent is standard. Above $1,200 a week, that cap no longer applies, so higher-rent properties in WA can carry a bond outside the usual four-week rule.
What we're leaving out, on purpose
We found conflicting penalty figures for unauthorised lock changes — a $2,000 infringement notice against what reads as the same conduct carrying a $20,000 statutory maximum — and couldn't reconcile them, or confirm whether the split depends on an individual versus corporate landlord, without access to WA's legislation portal. Rather than publish a number that might be wrong, we've left it out. Check the current figure with Consumer Protection WA or a solicitor before relying on one.
General information, not legal advice, current to the best of our research as at 30 July 2026. Confirm anything you're relying on, especially the no-grounds status, with Consumer Protection WA or a solicitor before acting on it. See the state-by-state rental law comparison for how Western Australia compares with the rest of the country.