The department is responsible for administering the Control of Vehicles (Off-road Areas) Act 1978 (the Act).
Warning: Where fire bans exist in some parts of the state, some off-road vehicle areas may be closed. Users should check with local authorities or the DFES website before travelling to all off-road vehicle areas.
This map is designed to show permitted and prohibited off-road vehicle areas in Western Australia and their licencing and usage requirements. These areas are governed by the Control of Vehicles (Off-road Vehicles) Act 1978.
The Act:
The Act and associated regulations apply throughout Western Australia. These are available from the State Law Publisher.
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:
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:
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.
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 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.