Free Western Australia (WA) Bill of Sale Template

Western Australia Vehicle Sale Requirements

Western Australia runs the least burdensome private vehicle transfer in the country. There is no roadworthy inspection for a sale between WA residents, and at $19.15 the transfer fee is among the lowest anywhere in Australia. For sellers, that removes the step that delays sales in Victoria, Queensland and the ACT.

Duty here is also structured differently from most of the country. WA charges a percentage — 2.75% of dutiable value — rather than the flat per-$100 rate used in Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Dutiable value means market value, so the figure written on the sale document does not set what the buyer pays.

The absence of a mandatory inspection puts more weight on the written record. With no roadworthy certificate in the file, the sale document is the primary evidence of what condition the vehicle was represented to be in and what odometer reading it showed on the day. Stating the mileage and describing the vehicle as sold as-is, where both parties agree that is the arrangement, is what prevents a disagreement weeks later from becoming a dispute about what was promised.

Distance shapes the practical side of buying here more than in any other state. A vehicle advertised in Perth may be inspected by a buyer driving from Bunbury, Geraldton or Kalgoorlie, and remote sales are common enough that buyers frequently commit before seeing the car. A PPSR check matters more in that situation, not less — it confirms whether a secured debt is attached to the vehicle, and that debt follows the car rather than the person selling it.

The transfer completes when the buyer takes the signed transfer section of the vehicle licence to a Department of Transport licensing centre with the sale document and identification. Include both parties' full names and addresses, the registration and VIN, the odometer reading, the agreed price, the date and both signatures. Each side keeps a copy.