For covered short-stay accommodation in Western Australia, registration and an accurate, visible listing number are two separate requirements—and missing the second can still trigger enforcement.
Quick answer: Since 1 January 2025, covered short-term rental accommodation (STRA) in Western Australia must be registered before it is advertised or booked. The correct registration number must be displayed conspicuously in every advertisement. This includes many hosted stays, such as a room in the provider’s home. Registration is separate from planning approval, lease permission, strata rules, and safety obligations.
Editorial note: This article uses an anonymized summary of user-provided material. It does not reproduce community comments or identifying details. It provides general information, not legal advice.
The first announced infringement was about the advertisement—not simply “failure to register”
On 21 August 2026, Western Australia’s Consumer Protection division announced a $2,000 infringement involving a Perth metropolitan residential property. The agency said the property’s advertisement allegedly did not display the mandatory STRA registration number. It described this as the first infringement issued under the State’s short-stay laws. Read the official announcement.
That distinction matters. The announcement does not say that the premises were unregistered. It concerns a different compliance failure: an advertisement without the required number. A property can be on the register and still have a prohibited advertisement if the number is omitted, false, or not shown conspicuously.
For hosts, managers, and publishers, the useful question is therefore not just “Am I registered?” It is: “Have I checked every place this property is promoted?”
The three questions to answer before you take a booking
| Question | Why it matters | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Is this accommodation covered by WA’s STRA scheme? | A hosted room can still be STRA; labels such as “spare room” do not decide the issue. | Length and commercial nature of stays, premises type, and the statutory exclusions. |
| Is the premises registered? | Covered STRA must be registered before advertising or accepting bookings. | Registration status, expiry date, correct property details, and the assigned number. |
| Is every advertisement compliant? | A registered premises can still be promoted unlawfully if its number is missing or incorrect. | Booking-site listings, direct website, paid ads, flyers, blogs, and social posts. |
These three questions come before the next layer of property-specific obligations: local planning approval, lease permission, strata or community-scheme by-laws, insurance, and safety requirements.
1. Do hosted rooms and spare bedrooms need to register?
Often, yes.
The Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act 2024 covers residential premises provided commercially to the same person or people for a total period of no more than three months in a 12-month period. Its definition expressly includes an arrangement where the accommodation provider or agent lives at the premises.
The State distinguishes between:
- Hosted STRA: the provider, or an ordinarily resident agent, lives at the same premises during the stay.
- Unhosted STRA: the guest has exclusive use of the dwelling.
That distinction can affect planning treatment, but both hosted and unhosted accommodation must be registered when they meet the STRA definition. In other words, “I only let a room in my own home” is not, by itself, a registration exemption.
Some accommodation types are outside the State registration requirement, including hotels and certain specified tourist or visitor accommodation. Classification depends on the actual use and official category, not just the wording in an advertisement. The State’s “What needs to be registered?” guide is the right starting point when the answer is unclear.
2. Register before advertising—and before accepting bookings
The register opened on 1 July 2024, and the transition period ended on 1 January 2025. Since then, covered premises must be registered before an operator advertises or takes bookings. The State’s STRA Register guidance sets out the current registration process, fees, renewal cycle, and responsibilities.
An owner or tenant must begin the registration process. After a property manager is nominated in the Register, the manager can complete the process. That makes roles worth clarifying in writing:
| Role | A practical responsibility to confirm |
|---|---|
| Owner or tenant | Has authority to operate under the lease, title arrangements, and applicable by-laws; starts registration. |
| Property manager | Has been correctly nominated and has the current registration number for each property. |
| Marketing or distribution team | Uses the right number on every listing, campaign, landing page, and repost. |
| Booking-platform or publication owner | Has procedures to remove prohibited ads as soon as practicable after becoming aware of them. |
Do not treat a manager’s involvement as a reason to skip the authority check. A tenant considering a short-stay listing should first verify what the lease and any strata rules allow.
3. A registration number belongs in the advertisement, not only in the account profile
WA’s STRA advertising requirements prohibit advertising unregistered residential premises as STRA. They also prohibit an ad that does not conspicuously display the premises’ registration number, or displays a false number.
The rule is broader than a single listing channel. Official guidance gives examples that include booking-platform listings, print advertising, websites, blogs, and social posts. An operator should not assume that a number placed once on a business profile, bio, footer, or separate “about” page will cure a specific property listing that does not visibly show it.
A five-minute listing audit
For each advertised property, open every live promotional surface and confirm:
- The property is currently registered.
- The displayed number belongs to that exact premises.
- The number is easy for a prospective guest to see without leaving the advertisement.
- Reposted, scheduled, paid, and older campaign assets carry the same correct number.
- Any third party promoting the property has been given the current number and a clear update process.
The public STRA Register allows a prospective guest or operator to check a registration number or address. That is a useful accuracy test, not proof that a property meets every other legal or quality requirement.
4. Why the $2,000 amount should not be read as the only possible consequence
The first announced case used an infringement notice with a prescribed $2,000 modified penalty. That is not the same as a court-imposed maximum or a final judicial finding.
For specified advertising and registration offences, the Act sets a maximum court penalty of $20,000 for an accommodation provider or agent. The STRA Regulations prescribe $2,000 as the modified penalty that can be dealt with through an infringement notice for those offences.
The compliance lesson is practical, not alarmist: do not use the amount in one announcement as a budget for getting the process wrong. Build a repeatable register-and-listing review into the publishing workflow.
5. Registration does not replace planning approval
This is the most common point of confusion. All covered STRA must register whether or not planning approval is required. Conversely, registration does not decide whether local planning approval, a lease term, strata by-law, health requirement, or insurance condition permits the use.
The State’s planning reform guidance explains the difference:
- Hosted STRA is planning-exempt statewide, but it must still be registered.
- In the Perth metropolitan area, an unhosted STRA may have a planning exemption for up to 90 non-consecutive booked nights in its 12-month registration period. It must still be registered.
- For unhosted STRA outside that situation, local planning requirements can apply. Ask the relevant local government before relying on an exemption.
The 90-night planning threshold is not a registration threshold. A listing that is planning-exempt can still breach the registration or advertising rules.
A practical WA short-stay compliance checklist
Before publishing or refreshing a listing, work through this sequence:
- Classify the stay. Confirm whether the commercial accommodation arrangement fits the WA STRA definition. Do not rely only on labels such as “room,” “homestay,” or “holiday house.”
- Confirm authority. Check the lease, strata or community-scheme by-laws, and any other agreement that could restrict short stays.
- Check planning separately. Identify whether the property is hosted or unhosted, where it is located, and whether a local planning approval question remains.
- Register before activity. Complete the State registration process before advertising or accepting a booking; note renewal dates and any reporting duties that apply to independently managed bookings.
- Create one source of truth. Keep the property address, registration number, expiry date, authority documents, and planning notes in one accessible record.
- Audit every promotion. Check current listings, historic pages that may still be discoverable, scheduled posts, agency sites, paid campaigns, and third-party listings.
- Recheck after changes. A change of manager, property details, distribution partner, or promotional template is a good trigger for another audit.
Where Pine fits
Open Pine to keep the registration confirmation, renewal dates, planning correspondence, lease or strata permissions, listing URLs, screenshots, and manager communications in a single timeline. Pine can help identify which promotional surfaces still need review and prepare a focused checklist for a manager or local authority. It does not determine legal coverage, file registrations, or guarantee compliance.
Frequently asked questions
Is a WA short-stay property compliant if it is registered but the listing has no number?
Not necessarily. WA’s advertising rules separately require the premises’ correct registration number to be conspicuously displayed in the advertisement. The first announced infringement concerned an advertisement missing that number.
Do I need to register a spare room in my own home?
Potentially yes. Hosted accommodation can fall within STRA, and the State says hosted and unhosted STRA must register when they meet the definition. Check the arrangement and any relevant exclusion rather than assuming a spare room is outside the scheme.
Does the Perth 90-night rule mean I do not need to register?
No. It is a defined planning exemption for certain unhosted accommodation in the Perth metropolitan area. Registration remains a separate statewide requirement.
Is the $2,000 infringement the maximum penalty?
No. It is the prescribed modified penalty for specified offences that may be handled through an infringement notice. The Act sets a higher maximum court penalty for the relevant provider or agent offences. The outcome in any individual matter depends on its facts and procedure.
Can a guest use the public STRA Register to check a property?
Yes. The State’s public Register can be searched by address or registration number. It is an additional transparency check; it does not guarantee that a property meets every planning, safety, lease, or quality requirement.
Official sources
- WA Consumer Protection — first infringement issued under WA’s short-stay laws
- Short-Term Rental Accommodation Act 2024 — official WA legislation
- Short-Term Rental Accommodation Regulations 2024 — official WA legislation
- WA STRA Register
- WA STRA advertising requirements
- WA STRA planning reforms
This article provides general information, not legal advice. Whether a property is covered, registered, planning-exempt, or otherwise permitted depends on the current law, the actual accommodation arrangement, the property’s location, and applicable agreements. Confirm current requirements with the relevant WA authority or qualified adviser before listing or taking bookings.
