WA’s STRA register is now open

Over the next six months, all STRA owners must register their properties before it becomes mandatory on 1 January 2025.

Owners will be required to list their registration number on all online advertisements, including on platforms like Airbnb and Stayz.

Sue Ellery, Commerce Minister for Western Australia, stated: “We urge accommodation owners to sign up as soon as possible – those who register their properties in the next three months will enjoy a year’s free registration until the renewal is due in 2025.”

One of the goals of the STRA register is to give citizens and local councils a clear indicator of how many short-term rental properties are operating in their local area.

Once registrations are complete, a heat map of registered STRA properties is scheduled to be released in late 2025.

“The new register will help create a comprehensive picture of the STRA sector in WA by showing us how many properties there are, their locations and how they are being used,” said Ellery.

Planning Minister, John Carey, echoed her view, observing that the new register “will provide more certainty to local communities and users and will deliver important insight into how we can best regulate and plan for the STRA sector across WA”.

“For the first time, local governments will know with confidence how many STRA properties are in their area and where they are located,” Carey said.

“This means they can make informed decisions to manage how they operate in local communities.”

The initiative has been welcomed by the STRA sector, with online accommodation provider Stayz stating it “supports the bill introduced by the Cook government”.

Eacham Curry, senior director of government and corporate affairs at Stayz, said that the register was “a positive, sensible step in the right direction and the best way to collect data that will, in turn, inform the development of better policy”.

Airbnb’s country director for Australia and New Zealand, Susan Wheeldon, also expressed support for government moves, stating that the company “welcomes regulation”.

The register comes in the wake of growing concern about the impact of the booming short-term rental sector on house and rental prices for local residents.

In the Perth metropolitan area, unhosted STRA properties cannot be rented out for more than 90 days without planning approval.

Meanwhile, NSW imposed a 180-night cap on STRAs in Greater Sydney in 2021, and Byron Shire Council capped short-term rentals at 60 nights per year.