In Western Australia, prescribed goods such as bedding, clothing and household appliances may be sold by auction or private sale once the customer has had a notice that they are ready, then at least 3 months later a notice of intention, also served on anyone known to have an interest and on the Commissioner of Police, and then at least a month more with no dispute outstanding. Other goods worth up to $3,500 wait at least 6 months between the notices, are advertised in a newspaper and the Government Gazette, and go to public auction. Other goods worth more than $3,500 need a Magistrates Court order.
General informationAbout Western Australia’s uncollected goods rules as the Act and Consumer Protection WA set them out on 9 October 2026, not advice about any unit or sale. The places to check are Consumer Protection WA’s uncollected goods page and the Disposal of Uncollected Goods Act 1970.
01Before the forms: does the Act apply?
Each of the three paths in the Act covers goods a business accepted “for inspection, custody, storage, repair, or other treatment”. Goods accepted for storage are ready to be handed back when the arranged storage period ends or, if none was arranged, 7 days after they were accepted.
The Act does not apply where another Act in its Schedule governs the goods, and that Schedule lists the Warehousemen’s Liens Act 1952. Consumer Protection WA adds that the requirements do not cover goods left at the end of a residential tenancy, goods sent to a consumer who never asked for them, or goods in a pawnbroker’s hands. The court’s power to order a sale is subject to the terms of any bailment agreement. If goods may have been stolen, Consumer Protection WA points to the local police station.
02Which kind of goods?
Prescribed goods are listed in the Disposal of Uncollected Goods Regulations 1971, whatever their value. Consumer Protection WA lists them as
- batteries
- bedding, sleeping bags included
- bicycles and their parts
- books
- cooking utensils, electric ones included
- footwear
- garden tools, mowers and sprinklers included
- household appliances, such as barbecues, portable stoves and hairdryers
- household linen, leather goods and soft furnishings
- motor vehicle parts and accessories
- radios, radiograms, record players and tape recorders
- spectacles
- sports equipment
- television sets
- travel goods
- typewriters that are not electric
- clothing, except furs.
Everything else is valued against the Act’s “relevant amount” of $3,500 (or another amount the regulations prescribe).
03The three paths
The forms named here are the ones in Schedule 2 of the Disposal of Uncollected Goods Regulations 1971.
Path A: prescribed goods, any value
- Once the goods are ready, the business serves a Form 1 on the customer saying so.
- If the customer has neither collected nor disputed within three months, the business serves a Form 2, the notice of intention, on the customer, on anyone known to have an interest, and on the Commissioner of Police, at least one month before trying to sell.
- With no response after a month, it may try to sell by auction or private sale.
- If reasonable attempts to sell fail over a month, it may dispose of the goods in another way.
Path B: other goods worth $3,500 or less
- The business serves a Form 1 once the goods are ready.
- After at least six months with no collection or dispute, it serves a Form 2 on the same three parties.
- At least a month before the auction, it publishes a notice in a daily Perth newspaper circulating throughout the State and in the Government Gazette.
- With no response after a month, it may offer the goods at public auction.
- If they are passed in twice, at auctions at least 14 days apart, it may dispose of them in another way.
Path C: other goods worth more than $3,500
- The business serves a Form 1 once the goods are ready.
- After at least six months, it serves a Form 4, notice of intention to apply for a court order, on the same three parties, and publishes notice in the newspaper and the Gazette at least a month before applying.
- With no response after a month, it may apply to the Magistrates Court on a Form 8, serving a copy on the customer and anyone known to have an interest.
- A bailiff who serves the application gives a certificate of service; a business that serves it itself completes an affidavit of service, Form 11.
- Consumer Protection WA describes bringing witnesses, copies of the paperwork and the costs of complying with the Act to the hearing; the court can order disposal and award costs such as storage and advertising.
Consumer Protection WA suggests registered mail for posted documents, for the record of receipt it gives, and keeping a record of who served each notice and when and where.
04A notice of dispute stops the clock
A customer can answer a Form 1, 2 or 4 within one month with a notice of dispute, and Consumer Protection WA says the disposal process then stops. Under the Act, a dispute can be about the charges or the work, or about whether the goods are prescribed or worth no more than $3,500. The bailee can give notice that the dispute will be treated as settled, and it is, unless the customer objects in writing within one month; after an objection, either side may apply to the court.
05After the goods have gone
- From a sale, the business takes out the money owed and the costs of the sale, such as storage, advertising, commission and insurance.
- It can claim any shortfall from the customer as a debt in court.
- Any surplus goes to the customer; if they cannot be found and it stays unclaimed for 28 days, it is lodged with the State Treasury with a Form 13.
- Within 7 days of the sale or other disposal, the business completes the Form 13 record (the record for goods disposed of without a court order), and keeps it with a copy of the notice of intention for 6 years.
An offence against the Act carries a fine of $1,000, as the Act stated it when read on 9 October 2026. In any civil proceedings, the bailee carries the burden of proving the Act was followed.