Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

(WA) is divided into regions according to a number of systems. The most common system is the WA Government division of the state into regions for economic development purposes, which comprises nine defined regions; however, there are a number of other systems, including those made for purposes of land management (such as agriculture and conservation), information gathering (such as statistical and meteorological), and election for political office. The various different systems were defined for different purposes, and give specific boundaries, but although many of the different systems' regions have similar names, they have different boundaries; the names and boundaries of regions can and do vary between systems.

The ''Regional Development Commissions Act'' regions

The Western Australian system of regions defined by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

for purposes of economic development administration, which excludes the

Perth metropolitan region The Perth metropolitan region or the Perth metropolitan area is the administrative area and geographical extent of the Western Australian capital city of Perth and its conurbation. It generally includes the coastal strip from Two Rocks in th ...

, is a series of nine regions. These nine regions were established by the ''

Regional Development Commissions Act 1993 The ''Regional Development Commissions Act 1993'' is legislation passed by the Parliament of Western Australia: to establish regional development commissions, to coordinate and promote the development of regions and to establish a regional devel ...

'', which defined their extents and established Regional Development Commissions to promote their economic development. In defining the regions, an attempt was made to capture distinct socio-economic communities. For example, the

Goldfields–Esperance The Goldfields–Esperance region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the south eastern corner of Western Australia, and comprises the local government areas of Coolgardie, Dundas, Esperance, Kalgoorlie–Bo ...

region of Western Australia has an economy based heavily on mining, whereas the Wheatbelt region is economically dependent on agriculture.

Inter-regional travel restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic

During the Western Australian government response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, travel between regionsother than between Perth and Peelwas restricted, with police

checkpoints Checkpoint may refer to: Places * Border checkpoint, a place on the land border between two states where travellers and/or goods are inspected * Security checkpoint, erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary cont ...

set up at the borders. Only essential travel was allowed. At some checkpoints, police were assisted by

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and

State Emergency Service The State Emergency Service (SES) is the name used by a number of organisations in Australia that provide assistance during and after major incidents. Specifically, the service deals with floods, storms and tsunamis, but can also assist in oth ...

personnel; the army did not have any authority to prosecute or arrest. Remote communities and some "biosecurity areas" had further travel restrictions due to the lack of medical facilities and number of high risk community members. Some inter-regional restrictions were lifted on 18 May, and on 5 June all regional restrictions were removed except for remote Aboriginal communities. On 31 January 2021, after a quarantine hotel security guard in Perth tested positive, a five-day lockdown, from 6pm on 31 January until 6pm on 5 February was declared. Schools scheduled to resume on 1 February were to remain closed for another week. The areas affected were: "... the whole Perth metropolitan area, the Peel region and the South West region ..."

Bureau of Meteorology regions

The same region names as those used by the Regional Development Commissions Act (RDCA) are incorporated into the system used by

Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM or BoM) is an executive agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together ...

(BOM), which uses 14 regions, so the boundaries of the two systems do not coincide. In some of the regions, the BOM designates the forecast area regions with a finer level of detail using points of the compass. Regions numbered 8 to 14 are usually known as forecast areas in the ''South West Land Division''; coastal zones for sea forecasts are dealt with in the

coastal regions of Western Australia Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state or territory in Australia, at 10,194 km or 12,889 km (20,781 km including islands). It is a significant portion of the coastline of Australia, which is 35,877 km (59, ...

South West Western Australia Fire Weather Forecast Areas

The South West Land Division has 23 fire districts.

Political regions

Under Australia's three-tiered system of government, Western Australia has four political regional schemes:

State government departmental regions

Many government departments maintain systems of regional and district breakdowns of the state for their own internal purposes. ;

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

*Goldfields *Kimberley *Midwest *North Metro *Pilbara *South Metro *Southwest *Wheatbelt ; Department of Agriculture and Food * Northern Agricultural Region * Rangelands Region * Southern Agricultural Region * Central Agricultural Region * South West Agricultural ;

Main Roads Western Australia Main Roads Western Australia (formerly the Main Roads Department) is a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that is responsible for implementing the state's policies on road access and main roads. It operates under the ''M ...

* Kimberley * Pilbara * Mid-West-Gascoyne * Goldfields-Esperance * Wheatbelt * Metropolitan * Great Southern * South-West ;

Department of Water The Department of Water is a defunct department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for management of Western Australia's water resources. It was replaced by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (Western A ...

* Kimberley * Pilbara * Mid West Gascoyne * Goldfields * Swan-Avon * Kwinana Peel * South West * South Coast ; Department of Fisheries Fisheries tends to separate the state into four main regions for the purpose of regulating recreational fishing: * North Coast – Pilbara-Kimberley * Gascoyne Coast * West Coast * South Coast. ;

Department of Mines and Petroleum The Department of Mines and Petroleum was a department of the Government of Western Australia until it was superseded by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety on 1 July 2017.

The department produces statistical data based on the Regional Development Commissions Act regionalisation schema Since the creation of the Department of Industry and Resources some rationalisation of mines administration has occurred, however the mineral fields and boundaries remain the same as when established. ;

Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Western Australian Planning Commission The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) is an independent statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that exists to coordinate strategic and statutory planning for future urban, rural and regional land use. The authori ...

There are three regions with regional planning schemes, covering only a small part of the state: * Metropolitan Region Scheme (Perth) * Peel Region Scheme * Greater Bunbury Region Scheme ;

Department of Fire and Emergency Services The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) is a government department that is responsible for fire and emergency services in Western Australia. The department came into being in 2012 as a result of the Perth Hills Bush Fire review.DFES ...

* Kimberley * Pilbara * Mid West Gascoyne * Goldfields * Great Southern * Kwinana Peel * South West * Lower South West * Metropolitan ;

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

* Kimberley * Pilbara * Midwest * Goldfields * Wheatbelt * South West * Great Southern * North Metropolitan * South Metropolitan * East Metropolitan

Natural and land management

''See also :Biogeography of Western Australia'' There are a number of regionalisations that attempt to provide a regionalisation based on natural features. The best known of these are the

Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. It was devel ...

(IBRA) regions, and the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

Ecoregions in Australia An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

, and the "natural regions" of

John Stanley Beard John Stanley Beard (15 February 1916 – 17 February 2011) was a British-born forester and ecologist who resided in Australia. Beard studied at the University of Oxford where he completed his doctoral thesis on tropical forestry. While working ...

, all of which are based on

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

. Other natural regionalisations included the drainage basins and catchments of river systems, and highly specialised regionalisations dealing with such matters as geology and soil systems. Administrative regionalisations include Landcare Districts and the Department of Agriculture's "Land-use Zones". However the Department of Agriculture publications – ''Technical Bulletins'' – usually titled ''An inventory and condition report/survey...'' of a particular region are very specifically focused upon land systems that are based on natural features.

Land tenure

Western Australia is divided into approximately 90 land districts for

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represented graphically in a cad ...

purposes. There are five land divisions in Western Australia, as specified in Schedule 1 of the Land Administration Act 1997. * Eastern Land Division * Eucla Land Division * Kimberley Land Division * North-West Land Division * South-West Land Division

Wine regions

Western Australia covers the western third of the continent, although the winemaking regions are almost entirely situated in the south-western tip of the state. It has nine regions, and five nominated subregions for wine under the

geographical indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

s legislation as determined by the

Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Wine Australia is an Australian Government statutory corporation that promotes and regulates the Australian wine industry. It was created as the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC) in 1981 to replace the Australian Wine Board by the ...

.T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pg 589 Dorling Kindersley 2005 Australian Wine and Brandy corporation – Western Australia
winepros.com.au, ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'' pg 76
Western Australia
Wine regions include: *Greater Perth **

Perth Hills Perth Hills is a term used primarily for marketing purposes to identify the part of the Darling Scarp and hinterland east of the scarp that lies within the Shire of Mundaring, City of Swan, and the City of Kalamunda and as part of the constitue ...

** Peel ** Swan District *South Western Australia **

Blackwood Valley Blackwood Valley is a wine region in the south-west of Western Australia, approximately 260 km (160 mi) south-south-east of Perth.Blackwood Valley, ''Wine Lover's Companion'' (2003). The region was named after the Blackwood River, the longest ...

** Geographe ** Great Southern *** Albany ***

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

*** Frankland River *** Mount Barker *** Porongurup ** Manjimup **

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. The ...

** Pemberton

Coastal regions

: Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state in Australia, at 10,194 km. The regions can be determined by the underlying geology, and in the case of the Bureau of Meteorology – features such as points and capes are useful indicators of coastal water forecasts.

Landgate The Western Australian Land Information Authority operates under the business name of Landgate. Formerly known as the Department of Land Information (DLI), the Department of Land Administration (DOLA) and the Department of Lands and Surveys ( ...

publishes touring maps that include coastal zones including: * Batavia Coast (incorporating the area of Dongara, Geraldton, and Kalbarri) * Gascoyne Coast (Carnarvon, Coral Bay, Denham, Exmouth and the Coral Coast) * Coral Coast (at the northern end of the Gascoyne Coast) * Turquoise Coast north of sunset Coast and south of Batavia coast *

Sunset Coast Sunset Coast is the name given by Tourism Western Australia to the coastal section of the northern metropolitan area of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is one of the six component tourism precincts of the Perth region. While not ...

(Perth Metropolitan beachside suburbs from Cottesloe to Yanchep)

Census and Australian Bureau of Statistics

For the purposes of

statistical geography Statistical geography is the study and practice of collecting, analysing and presenting data that has a geographic or areal dimension, such as census or demographics data. It uses techniques from spatial analysis, but also encompasses geographica ...

, the

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

uses the

Australian Standard Geographical Classification The Census in Australia, officially the Census of Population and Housing, is the national census in Australia that occurs every five years. The census collects key demographic, social and economic data from all people in Australia on census nig ...

, a hierarchical regionalisation that divides Western Australia into

statistical division Statistics (from German: ''Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, industria ...

s, then statistical subdivisions,

statistical local area Statistics (from German: ''Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, industria ...

s, and finally,

census collection district A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

s. Statistical divisions include: * SD 505 – Perth * SD 510 – South West * SD 515 – Lower Great Southern * SD 520 – Upper Great Southern * SD 525 – Midlands * SD 530 – South Eastern * SD 535 – Central * SD 540 – Pilbara * SD 545 – Kimberley The ABS produces regional profiles for the nine ABS statistical divisions, and the ten Development Commission regions.

Cross-regional terminology

In some cases, regions have been grouped into larger areas, to describe a larger area in a single term: * ''Arid Western Australia'' tends to be synonymous with the

Eremaean province The Eremaean province is a botanical region in Western Australia, characterised by a desert climate. It is sometimes referred to as the ''dry and arid inland'' or ''interior'' region of Western Australia It is one of John Stanley Beard's phytog ...

biological region relating to plants and dry conditions * ''

Remote Western Australia Remote Western Australia is a designation of areas of Western Australia that are either isolated or well away from the main concentrations of population and services found in the south west of the state. The usage of the phrase ''remote Western A ...

''also synonymous with ''Outback Western Australia''is determined by the distance and separation from the more heavily populated south west region surrounding

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and its adjacent hinterland, and the subsequent scattered and low density populated areas towards the central east of Western Australia. * ''

North West Australia The North West, North West Coast, North Western Australia and North West Australia, are usually informal names for the northern regions of the State of Western Australia. However, some conceptions of "North West Australia" have included adjoi ...

'' similarly crosses the usual regional definitions to designate an area. * ''

Southwest Australia Southwest Australia is a biogeographic region in Western Australia. It includes the Mediterranean-climate area of southwestern Australia, which is home to a diverse and distinctive flora and fauna. The region is also known as the Southwest Aus ...

'' may also ignore usual regional definitions. * ''

Nullarbor The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of , 'no', and , 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its ...

''a term with multiple meanings covers between south east Western Australia, and far west South Australia.

References

External links

Fisheries – recreational fishing regions

Maps

* ''Streetsmart Travellers Atlas of Western Australia'' (2006) Department of Land Information and West Australian Newspapers,9th ed. * Quality Publishing Australia.(2007) ''Roads & tracks Western Australia: campsites directory, roads and tracks, all in one'' Jolimont, W.A.,Quality Publishing Australia, 5th ed * ''UBD Western Australia country road atlas'' (2005) Macquarie Park, N.S.W.UBD, a division of Universal Publishers, 11th ed {{Western Australian regions