Western Australia boating rules: licence, lifejackets and safety gear
What the rules in Western Australia require on the water, from official sources and linked line by line: boat and jet ski licences, lifejackets, safety equipment, registration and who to call when things go wrong.
- Emergency
- 000 · ask for Police
- Boat licence
- Motor over 6 hp (4.5 kW)
- Lifejackets
- When you must wear one
- Log on
- How to log on
Emergency on the water in Western Australia
27 MHz channel 88 is still listed in Western Australia, but 27 MHz radios won’t be compliant from 1 September 2028, and not all marine rescue groups monitor channel 88.
What Western Australia tells boaters to do
DTMI: 'If you're in an emergency and require immediate assistance: activate your Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) or Personal Location Beacon (PLB); make a distress call using your marine radio on channel 16 for VHF, channel 88 for 27MHz or 4125 HF; call 000.' During the incident: make passengers as safe as possible, keep together and wear lifejackets; stay with your vessel if safe to do so; make yourself as visible as possible to rescue crews. Skippers must help others in distress if safe to do so. Marine incidents causing injury, death or making a vessel unseaworthy must be reported to DTMI within 72 hours.
How to call for help on the water: 000, VHF 16, EPIRB · Marine radio channels in Australia
Logging on before you go (Western Australia)
DTMI: 'Use your marine radio to log on and log off with the local marine rescue group every time you go out on a boat. Logging on ensures that someone always knows where you are and will take action if you don't return on time.' Call the local group's frequency and give your call sign, departure time and place, destination, adults/children on board, fuel and expected return time; log off the same way ('safely back, logging off for the day'). 'If you do not log off, the marine rescue group will take action to find you, wasting time and resources.' Local groups are volunteer Marine Rescue WA units; a 'Marine Rescue WA app' exists (Google autocomplete) but was not verified on an official page.
VesselSOS doesn’t log you on with anyone and alerts nobody if you’re overdue. Log on with the service above as well; the VesselSOS live link is for your family ashore. Marine rescue log-on vs VesselSOS →
Western Australia boat licence and jet ski licence
Boat licence
A Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST) is needed to operate a recreational vessel with a motor over 6 hp (4.5 kW). Only the skipper needs it and must carry it at all times. No RST needed for unpowered vessels or motors of 4.5 kW or less. The RST never needs renewing. Interstate/overseas skippers staying under 3 months don't need one.
Jet ski (PWC) licence
No separate PWC licence – an RST is required to operate a PWC. Everyone on a PWC must wear a Level 50S+ lifejacket from launch to retrieval.
Minimum age
Minimum 14 to get an RST. Holders aged 14–15 may only operate in daylight and below 8 knots (applies to boats and PWC).
Source: transport.wa.gov.au
Western Australia lifejacket rules
WA splits waters into 'protected' (rivers, lakes, dams, estuaries, harbours and within 400 m of shore; Cambridge Gulf and Lake Argyle excluded) and 'unprotected' (more than 400 m from shore). Registered vessels under 4.8 m: carry Level 100+ for everyone in protected waters; in unprotected waters everyone must WEAR Level 100+. Vessels 4.8 m and over: carry Level 100+ for all; in unprotected waters children aged 1 to 12 must wear Level 100+. PWC: everyone must wear Level 50S+ at all times in all waters. Non-registrable craft (paddle craft, sailboards, kiteboards, windsurfers, tenders, sailing dinghies) under 4.8 m: Level 50S+ must be worn more than 400 m from shore in unprotected waters (recommended closer in). Electric hydrofoil boards over 4.5 kW: Level 50+ worn.
Source: transport.wa.gov.au
Lifejacket levels: Level 50S is similar to the old Type 3, Level 50 to Type 2, and Level 100, 150 and 275 to Type 1 (NSW Maritime’s comparison). AS 4758 is the Australian standard for the levels. Lifejacket rules in every state →
Required safety equipment in Western Australia
Protected waters (rivers, estuaries, harbours, within 400 m of shore): Level 100+ lifejacket for each person. Unprotected waters (beyond 400 m): GPS-enabled EPIRB carried or GPS-enabled PLB worn (until 1 Sep 2028 to upgrade from non-GPS); 2 red + 2 orange handheld flares (parachute flares accepted instead of red only until 1 Sep 2026; an approved EVDS may replace flares only with a GPS EPIRB/PLB); marine radio when more than 4 nm from shore (27 MHz phased out by 1 Sep 2028; VHF/HF need an operator's certificate). Fire extinguisher, anchor, bilge pump and bailer are no longer mandatory (still recommended). Vessel length no longer limits distance offshore – the skipper decides what is safe.
Source: transport.wa.gov.au
Boat registration in Western Australia
Any recreational vessel that is or can be propelled by mechanical power (including sailing vessels that can carry a motor, PWC, power boards, motorised paddle craft and electric hydrofoil boards) must be registered with DTMI, including vessels on moorings or in pens. Exempt: sailing vessels that cannot carry a motor, and canoes, surf skis and other craft without motors.
Jet ski (PWC) rules in Western Australia
RST required (14+; 14–15 daylight only, max 8 knots); registration; Level 50S+ lifejacket worn by all at all times. Freestyling, wave and wake jumping prohibited in any speed-restricted area, within 30 m of another PWC and within 50 m of another vessel or person in the water; on the Swan and Canning Rivers freestyling only in the gazetted area downstream of the Narrows Bridge. General 8-knot limit unless posted: within 50 m of a moored vessel, person in the water, jetty/wharf or river bank/low-water mark, within 15 m of a vessel underway, in water under 3 m deep, in mooring areas and through bridge arches. Beyond 400 m: GPS EPIRB/PLB and flares; beyond 4 nm: marine radio.
Kayak, canoe, paddle board and kite rules
No RST or registration for unpowered paddle craft, sailboards, kiteboards or windsurfers (motorised paddle craft must be registered). Paddle craft, kites, sailboards under 4.8 m more than 400 m from shore in unprotected waters: wear Level 50S+, carry a GPS EPIRB or wear a GPS PLB, and carry 2 red + 2 orange handheld flares (these non-registrable vessel rules started 30 September 2024). Paddle craft between sunset and sunrise must carry a white torch or lantern. DTMI says the paddle craft requirements do not apply to surfboards or stand-up paddle boards.
Popular boating waters in Western Australia
- Swan River and Canning River (Perth)
- Cockburn Sound and Rottnest Island waters
- Geographe Bay
- Exmouth Gulf and Ningaloo
- Shark Bay
- Peel-Harvey Estuary (Mandurah)
- King George Sound (Albany)
- Lake Argyle
Some of the waters Western Australia boaters know best. This is our list, not an official one, and it isn’t complete.
VesselSOS on Western Australia waters
- Life in danger? Tap “Yes, life in danger” and the app dials Triple Zero (000). The screen shows your GPS position in words and a word-for-word script that starts “Police. Boat emergency, I’m on the water.”, then the waterway, the nearest town and the state.
- The rescue-centre list also has JRCC Australia (1800 641 792), the national maritime rescue line for offshore, as a second Call button, and a VHF Channel 16 MAYDAY text filled with your boat’s details for you to read on your own radio.
- A live link for family ashore (Plus, free during the beta): your position, speed, course and phone battery in any browser, no app needed on their end. You send it by text yourself.
What it doesn’t do: it doesn’t log you on with Marine Rescue or anyone else, and it isn’t connected to 000, Police, Marine Rescue or AMSA. Nobody is alerted automatically if you’re late: the return-time check only asks “Are you OK?” on your own phone. Marine rescue log-on services do follow up when you don’t log off, so log on with them as well. A phone doesn’t replace a marine radio, an EPIRB or PLB, or the safety gear your state requires.
iPhone only, in invite-only TestFlight beta. Not in the App Store yet, no Android. Australian support (000 routing) is in beta version 1.5 and later.
Quick answers
Do you need a boat licence in Western Australia?
A Recreational Skipper's Ticket (RST) is needed to operate a recreational vessel with a motor over 6 hp (4.5 kW). Only the skipper needs it and must carry it at all times. No RST needed for unpowered vessels or motors of 4.5 kW or less. The RST never needs renewing. Interstate/overseas skippers staying under 3 months don't need one.
How old do you have to be to get a boat licence in Western Australia?
Minimum 14 to get an RST. Holders aged 14–15 may only operate in daylight and below 8 knots (applies to boats and PWC).
Do you need a jet ski licence in Western Australia?
No separate PWC licence – an RST is required to operate a PWC. Everyone on a PWC must wear a Level 50S+ lifejacket from launch to retrieval.
Do you have to register a boat in Western Australia?
Any recreational vessel that is or can be propelled by mechanical power (including sailing vessels that can carry a motor, PWC, power boards, motorised paddle craft and electric hydrofoil boards) must be registered with DTMI, including vessels on moorings or in pens. Exempt: sailing vessels that cannot carry a motor, and canoes, surf skis and other craft without motors.
Sources
Marine safety agency: Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure (DTMI) – Maritime (formerly Department of Transport WA)
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/boating-emergencies/what-to-do
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/rules-safety-guides/vessel-safety-maintenance/logging-on-off
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/recreational-skippers-ticket/about-rst
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/rules-safety-guides/safety-equipment/changes-now-apply
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/rules-safety-guides/water-activity-safety/personal-water-craft
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/rules-safety-guides/water-activity-safety/paddle-craft
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/rules-safety-guides/water-activity-safety/kite-windsurfing
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/rules-safety-guides/water-activity-safety/electric-hydrofoil
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/rules-safety-guides/boating-rules-regulations/speed-limits
- https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/marine/recreational-boating/boat-registration/register-vessel
Checked October 2026. Rules change — confirm with the WA Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure before you go.
This page summarises the rules for planning; it isn’t legal advice. Where this page and the official text differ, the official text wins. Spotted an error? Email support@vesselsos.com.