• Please join our new sister site dedicated to discussion of gold, silver, platinum, copper and palladium bar, coin, jewelry collecting/investing/storing/selling/buying. It would be greatly appreciated if you joined and help add a few new topics for new people to engage in.

    Bullion.Forum

WA - general urban detecting - rules, regulations and rangers etc

Prospecting Australia

Help Support Prospecting Australia:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Hilux

Hilux

Joined
May 4, 2022
Messages
385
Reaction score
835
Location
Perth WA
I've just started detecting 6 months ago. I'm interested in coins and general old relics.

I've been looking at legalities and what is acceptable and what's not.

I can't seem to find much information at all other than detecting heritage sites and national parks is not permitted.
I have purchased a Miners Right although I *think* that really only applies to gold and mineral fossickers.

Obviously I'm not going to dig holes in grassed areas and playing grounds!

Does that mean everywhere else is ok? Beaches, parks, river banks, ovals and playgrounds?

Do rangers give you a hard time?
 
No Miners Right is necessary for WA treasure hunting, as long as it isn't prospecting.

WA beaches are fine for detecting, but stay off any fenced rehabilitation areas in the dunes and alongside accessways.

All the other areas mentioned will be under the control of one WA authority or another - usually the local council, although some areas alongside rivers may be managed by a separate designated authority (eg. the Swan River Trust). Have a look to see whose name is on any signage in the area and check with them about detector policy before assuming it's OK to have a go.

I've only worked the beaches myself and I found the public generally either ignore you or are friendly and may even seek your assistance to locate missing jewelry, watches, keys, phones, etc. Drunks and druggies were a minor problem, but keep your eyes open and you should be OK.

Good hunting!
 
Thanks Grubstake.

I thought that was the case with the miners right but it was a little unclear and for the sake of $30 for life I grabbed one.

Perhaps I should make that call to my local council. At the moment I've just been doing it. I never dig grass or pathways and always restore any holes.

I've had a few of the local homeless / meth head types nearby but they've stayed away so far!
 
I've got a 120yror more year old Heritage Park listed park next to me and the they still come at dusk with their Kogan detectors virtually nightly.
 
Last edited:
Jaros said:
I've got a 120yror more year old Heritage Park listed park next to me and the they still come at dusk with their Kogan detectors virtually nightly.
Click to expand...

I guess the rangers leave them alone as long as they don't do any damage.
 
Jaros said:
The park people stop at 1630 to give themselves a chance to wind down before the drive home.
Click to expand...


I live 1km from the council offices, the council workers sometimes still park up across the road from me under some park trees to while away the last 30 minutes of the day. Then there's the lunch time truck gatherings.....
 
Hilux said:
I've just been looking at PlanWA maps - it seems almost everywhere is listed as a heritage site. Including most places I've been detecting.

https://espatial.dplh.wa.gov.au/planwa/Index.html?viewer=planwa
Click to expand...
Yeh, I was going to say, the WA heritage listed areas are a bit of a pain. I have heard of guys still exploring areas, but unless they got permission somehow, they're breaking the law. Try and look for old town maps on Trove or the State Library website e.g. Toodyay used to be a bit further up the Avon from where it is now. I've tried a couple of spots, but find much better results at the beach.

On beachcombing, I do the honest thing and hand finds in at the police station (people also offer rewards when you do the right thing). They will fill out a WA Police Interim Property Receipt [P.293A form] and give you a copy. Eight weeks later, if no one has claimed the item, it's yours. 👍👍👍
 
Phil8303 said:
Yeh, I was going to say, the WA heritage listed areas are a bit of a pain. I have heard of guys still exploring areas, but unless they got permission somehow, they're breaking the law. Try and look for old town maps on Trove or the State Library website e.g. Toodyay used to be a bit further up the Avon from where it is now. I've tried a couple of spots, but find much better results at the beach.

On beachcombing, I do the honest thing and hand finds in at the police station (people also offer rewards when you do the right thing). They will fill out a WA Police Interim Property Receipt [P.293A form] and give you a copy. Eight weeks later, if no one has claimed the item, it's yours. 👍👍👍
Click to expand...


I'm surprised at how wide the heritage areas are in some places - especially along the river.

I had thought of Toodyay as a spot to spend the weekend and have a poke around.

I think if I found anything of value at the beach I'd also drop it off at the police station, jewellery has a lot of sentimental value. The odds are no one will claim it anyway.
 
Hilux said:
I'm surprised at how wide the heritage areas are in some places - especially along the river.

I had thought of Toodyay as a spot to spend the weekend and have a poke around.

I think if I found anything of value at the beach I'd also drop it off at the police station, jewellery has a lot of sentimental value. The odds are no one will claim it anyway.
Click to expand...
If you're up for the drive, another place you could try is out the back of Armadale. Google Old Gleneagle township.
 
Hilux said:
I'm surprised at how wide the heritage areas are in some places - especially along the river.

I had thought of Toodyay as a spot to spend the weekend and have a poke around.

I think if I found anything of value at the beach I'd also drop it off at the police station, jewellery has a lot of sentimental value. The odds are no one will claim it anyway.
Click to expand...
I have handed in a ring to a police station. But I also put up a notice on the town notice board (it was a tiny town) asking if anyone had lost a ring to go to police station and describe it. Of course if it was an out of town visitor they would not know about it.
How else do you get the message out there? Is there a general lost items place? No one reads newspapers and I am not on any social media sites. (Other than this one :) )
 
There's a Lost & Found section on Gumtree, under the Community category. When I was beach detecting, I responded to a couple of lost ring adverts on there, with remarkable success. I'd call the advertisers before I went hunting, to get the most accurate location info they could provide; with good directions, 20 minutes or so was usually all it took me to recover their property. Hearing their joyful surprise when I called them from the beach with the sandy item in my hand, was all the reward I needed!
 
greenhillstraveller said:
I have handed in a ring to a police station. But I also put up a notice on the town notice board (it was a tiny town) asking if anyone had lost a ring to go to police station and describe it. Of course if it was an out of town visitor they would not know about it.
How else do you get the message out there? Is there a general lost items place? No one reads newspapers and I am not on any social media sites. (Other than this one :) )
Click to expand...
I'm not a facebook guy, but I believe there is a page on facebook as well for lost and found gear around Perth.
 
grubstake said:
There's a Lost & Found section on Gumtree, under the Community category. When I was beach detecting, I responded to a couple of lost ring adverts on there, with remarkable success. I'd call the advertisers before I went hunting, to get the most accurate location info they could provide; with good directions, 20 minutes or so was usually all it took me to recover their property. Hearing their joyful surprise when I called them from the beach with the sandy item in my hand, was all the reward I needed!
Click to expand...
Too right, mate. I must admit, it's a good feeling to be able to return a sentimental item to someone who thought they would never see it again, not for any material gain, just to hear a thank you.
 
I emailed my local council today asking if there were any by-laws or rules regarding metal detecting.

They replied saying they could find nothing but would pass my enquiry through to their parks dept for an opinion.

I guess this is what I should have expected. I'll see what the parks guys say.
 
Hilux said:
I emailed my local council today asking if there were any by-laws or rules regarding metal detecting.

They replied saying they could find nothing but would pass my enquiry through to their parks dept for an opinion.

I guess this is what I should have expected. I'll see what the parks guys say.
Click to expand...
At least you did the right by checking, mate.
 

Similar threads

A
Visiting from Germany - Looking for Tips or a Gold Detecting Mate in NSW/VIC
Replies
6
Views
769
Hawkear
Hawkear
Prunehands
Hello all
Replies
3
Views
395
Prunehands
Prunehands
Hilux
WA. Detecting heritage listed sites.
Replies
6
Views
3K
Goldtalk Leonora
G
U
  • Locked
  • Sticky
❗Fossicking & Prospecting Regulations - All Australian States
Replies
0
Views
89K
user 4485
U
H
Looking For Pointers, Areas I Can Legally Detect (Some Finds).
Replies
6
Views
3K
ctxkid
C

Latest posts

Top