Consumer Protection WA Tenancy: What Landlords Need to Know

Consumer Protection WA is the division responsible for administering the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 — but what it actually does for landlords and what it does not do are two very different things. Understanding the boundary saves you from calling the wrong number and waiting for help that is never coming.

What Consumer Protection WA Does

Consumer Protection operates within the Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety (DLGIRS), following a restructure on 1 July 2025 that moved it from the former DEMIRS. Its role in residential tenancies includes:

• Publishing prescribed forms — Form 1A, Form 1B, Form 1C, Form 2, Form 20, Form 21, Form 22, and the tenancy agreement Form 1AA. Form 20 is for non-rent breaches; Form 21 is for rent arrears. Court applications use separate court forms.
• Running the advice line — call 1300 30 40 54 for general guidance on tenancy obligations. If you need an interpreter, call the Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 and ask to be connected.
• Conciliation of specific disputes — since the recent reforms, the Commissioner for Consumer Protection can adjudicate disputes about pets, minor property modifications, and contested bond releases. These used to require a Magistrates Court application.
• Administering the Bond Administrator — the statutory body that holds and disburses rental security bonds.

What Consumer Protection WA Cannot Do

Consumer Protection is an administrative and regulatory body. It cannot:

• Issue or enforce eviction orders — only the Magistrates Court can grant a termination order and a warrant for possession
• Give personalised legal advice — the advice line provides general information about the law, not advice on your specific situation
• Act as your representative in court — though the Commissioner can appear on behalf of a party in limited circumstances
• Force a tenant to leave — even if the tenant has clearly breached the agreement, Consumer Protection has no enforcement power over possession

For legal advice specific to your tenancy, you need a private solicitor. Community legal services such as Circle Green Community Legal exist in WA, but their tenancy services are exclusively tenant-facing — they do not assist landlords.

Downloading Prescribed Forms

All prescribed forms are available free from the Consumer Protection website at consumerprotection.wa.gov.au. When downloading, check that you have the current revision — using an outdated or superseded form renders any notice served on it invalid, and the Magistrates Court has no power to cure the defect.

The forms you are most likely to need when ending a tenancy:

• Form 1C — the general notice of termination, used for no-grounds periodic (60 days), sale requiring vacant possession (30 days), fixed-term expiry (30 days), non-rent breach (7 days), and uninhabitability (7 days)
• Form 1A — notice of termination for non-payment of rent after a Form 21 breach notice (7 days)
• Form 1B — direct notice of termination for non-payment of rent without a prior breach notice (7 days)
• Form 20 — notice to tenant of breach of agreement other than failure to pay rent (14 days to remedy)
• Form 21 — breach notice for non-payment of rent (14 days to remedy)

The Gap Between the Forms and the Process

Consumer Protection gives you the forms and explains the statutory notice periods. What it does not provide is a joined-up workflow — the date-counting rules, the postal transit allowances, the service proof requirements, and the court filing deadlines that connect the form to an enforceable outcome.

The Ending a Tenancy in Western Australia guide takes those forms and builds the complete process around them: which form for which situation, how to calculate the notice period, how to serve it lawfully, and what to do if the tenant stays.

See more Western Australia guides →