Western Australia (WA) is divided into regions according to a number of systems. The most common system is the division of the state by the Government of Western Australia in 1993 into regions for economic development purposes, which comprises nine defined regional regions that exclude the Perth metropolitan region. 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 at different times, 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 regional regions defined by the Government of Western Australia for purposes of economic development administration, which excludes the Perth metropolitan region, is a series of nine regional regions.

These nine regions were established by the Regional Development Commissions Act 1993, 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 region of Western Australia has an economy based heavily on mining, whereas the Wheatbelt region is economically dependent on agriculture.

Region Largest city Number of Land area Map Gascoyne Carnarvon 4 Goldfields–Esperance Kalgoorlie 10 Great Southern Albany 11 Kimberley Broome 4 Mid West Geraldton 16 Peel Mandurah 5 Pilbara Karratha 4 South West Bunbury 12 Wheatbelt Northam 42

Inter-regional travel restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic

During the Western Australian government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel between regionsother than between Perth and Peelwas restricted, with police checkpoints set up at the borders. Only essential travel was allowed. At some checkpoints, police were assisted by army and State Emergency Service 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 31January until 6pm on 5February 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 (BOM), – noting the changes in 2012 – http://www.bom.gov.au/NexGenFWS/wa/districts.shtml#new-districts-map 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.

BOMmapnumber BOMregionname RDCAregionname BOM overlap areas RDCA overlap areas Notes 01 Kimberley Kimberley South East Kimberley in BOM "NE Interior" close fit 02 Pilbara Pilbara BOM North Interior in RDCA "East Pilbara" 03 Gascoyne Gascoyne BOM South and East Gascoyne in RDCA "Mid West" 04 Goldfields Goldfields–Esperance 05 Eucla Goldfields–Esperance 06 Northern Interior 07 Southern Interior Mid West 08 Central West Perth, Peel 09 Lower West South West 10 South West Great Southern 11 South Coastal Goldfields–Esperance 11 South East Coastal Goldfields–Esperance 13 Great Southern Great Southern 14 Central Wheat Belt Wheatbelt

South West Western Australia Fire Weather Forecast Areas The South West Land Division has 23 fire districts.http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/forecasts/sw-wa-fire-forecasts.shtml South West Western Australia Fire Weather Forecast Areas

Political regions Under Australia's three-tiered system of government, Western Australia has four political regional schemes: Federal Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives State Electoral Districts for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Electoral Regions for the Western Australian Legislative Council Local government Local government areas

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

The Department of Education defines the following:

Goldfields Kimberley Midwest North Metro Pilbara South Metro Southwest Wheatbelt

Department of Agriculture and Food The Department of Agriculture and Food defines the following:http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/PC_93310.html?s=2048819175

Northern Agricultural Region Rangelands Region Southern Agricultural Region Central Agricultural Region South West Agricultural

Main Roads Western Australia Main Roads Western Australia defines the following:

Kimberley Pilbara Mid West–Gascoyne Goldfields–Esperance Wheatbelt Metropolitan Great Southern South West

Department of Water The Department of Water defines the following:

North West Mid West Gascoyne Swan Avon Kwinana Peel South West South Coast

Department of Fisheries

The Department of 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 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.(1981) Map of Western Australia showing Administrative Divisions and Principal mines and operators

Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage For the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage / Western Australian Planning Commission 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 defines the following:

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

Department of Health The Department of Health defines the following:

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

Natural and land management See also :Category: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 (IBRA) regions, and the World Wildlife Fund's Ecoregions in Australia, and the "natural regions" of John Stanley Beard, all of which are based on biogeography. 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 Bulletinshttp://www.agric.wa.gov.au/PC_93285.html?s=1392304539 – 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 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 indications legislation as determined by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation.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 765 Western Australia Wine regions include:

Greater Perth Perth Hills Peel Swan District South Western Australia Blackwood Valley Geographe Great Southern Albany Denmark Frankland River Mount Barker Porongurup Manjimup Margaret River Pemberton

Coastal regions

Western Australia has the longest coastline of any state in Australia, at .Short, Andrew D (2005)Beaches of the Western Australian Coast: Eucla to Roeback Bay . page 1 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.Western Australian Forecast Areas Map

Landgate publishes touring maps that include coastal zones including:

Batavia Coast (incorporating the area of Dongara, Geraldton, and Kalbarri)"'StreetSmart Touring Map – Batavia Coast Western Australia Coral Coast (at the northern end of the Gascoyne Coast) Gascoyne Coast (Carnarvon, Coral Bay, Denham, Exmouth and the Coral Coast) Turquoise Coast north of sunset Coast and south of Batavia coast Sunset Coast (Perth Metropolitan beachside suburbs from Cottesloe to Yanchep)

Census and Australian Bureau of Statistics For the purposes of statistical geography, the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses the Australian Standard Geographical Classification, a hierarchical regionalisation that divides Western Australia into statistical divisions, then statistical subdivisions, statistical local areas, and finally, census collection districts.

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 biological region relating to plants and dry conditions Remote Western Australiaalso synonymous with Outback Western Australiais determined by the distance and separation from the more heavily populated south west region surrounding Perth and its adjacent hinterland, and the subsequent scattered and low density populated areas towards the central east of Western Australia. North West Australia similarly crosses the usual regional definitions to designate an area. Southwest Australia may also ignore usual regional definitions. Nullarbora term with multiple meanings covers between south east Western Australia, and far west South Australia.

See also