Western Australia

PLACING GEOCACHES - COVID-19 - Western Australia
There are currently no Covid-19 restrictions on placing caches in Western Australia.
Events are being published, and attendees must follow venue protocols which may apply.

Restrictions Apply in Some Regional Areas.

Kings Park, Bold Park

Geocaches placed in Kings Park or Bold Park need explicit permission from the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority

Rottnest Island

Geocaches intending to be placed on Rottnest Island need to be approved by the Rottnest Island Authority before any physical container is placed on the island.

The guidelines for new caches on Rottnest Island are as follows (Effective from June 17th, 2013):

• All individual cache owners are to contact the RIA (contact details are mentioned below) prior to placing a cache on the Island and formally request that the RIA approve their proposed cache – both its physical location and the wording of the listing.
• After the RIA approves the placement and wording of the listing, if applicable, the cache can be physically placed and the cache submitted for review at Geocaching.com.  
• All geocaching review processes will be followed and approval by the RIA does not automatically mean publication of the cache if any Geocaching guidelines are not met.  
• Caches submitted for review before RIA has approved them will not be reviewed.
• The contact email address for seeking RIA approval is education@rottnestisland.com

Stirling City Council

The Stirling City Council have formulated a policy regarding placement of geocaches in the Local Government area controlled by them.

Geocaches may be placed in Public Open Space grassed areas provided soil and vegetation is not damaged by the hiding or finding of geocaches.

Geocaches may not be placed in

• grassed areas next to any area that contain dieback or otherwise signposted as a restricted area
• bushland
• wetland
• dune reserves
• conservation reserves
• behind fences whether access is allowed through them or not (see below about limestone tracks)
• any other area subsequently identified by council as an area of concern

unless there is a formed limestone or sealed track allowing pedestrian access through these areas and only if the geocache is placed less than one metre (1m) from the edge of the formed limestone or sealed track.    Other tracks, especially sand tracks, whether official or not will not be allowed to have geocaches placed next to them.

Geocaches already published will be examined individually and moved to a more appropriate location or archived as determined by the Stirling City Council.   Stirling City Council may remove any geocache without warning if they determine that the location is not appropriate for geocaching hiding or finding.

City of Melville Council

The City of Melville have a number of restricted areas as a result of dieback and a number of areas that they designate as re-vegetation areas. 

In the dieback areas they will not permit geocache placement.  Most of the dieback areas are signposted as such but this is not always the case.  If in doubt contact the City of Melville before placing any container.

In the re-vegetation areas and any other area that they determine from time to time a geocache may be permitted but permission from them must be obtained before placement of the container.

Contact for the City of Melville is Environmental Community Liaison Officer, Phone: (08) 9364 0695

Wittenoom Asbestos Hazard Area

The designated area around the former town (now degazetted) of Wittenoom, WA, has been declared a hazardous area because of the presence of contaminated dust from Asbestos Mining.

There are no geocaches of any type permitted in this area.

The island in Lake  Kepwari

The island opposite the launching facility in Lake Kepwari, near Collie,  is off limits and the NPS have placed signs to this affect near the launching area and on the island itself. 

EVENT STACKING GUIDELINE
The intent of the Event Stacking guideline is to prevent the creation of two or more events which can easily be attended by the same attendees, thus turning it into a smilie gathering exercise rather than a genuine social meetup.

For this state, the guideline is interpreted as –

Events must be time separated such that the start of an event must be at least 4 hours after the end of another event, if the events are within 30km if both events are in the city, and 50 km if one or both are rural.

CITOs are exempt from this restriction.