Is it legal to record a phone call in Western Australia?

This page walks through the WA Act section by section and what it means if you record calls for work. It is general information, not legal advice. Section numbers and penalties are as they appear in the current consolidated version on the Western Australian legislation website in October 2026. For all eight states and territories, see our national guide, is it legal to record a phone call in Australia.

Can you record a conversation in WA without consent?

Start with section 5(1). A person must not install, use or maintain a listening device, or cause one to be installed, used or maintained:

• to record, monitor or listen to a private conversation to which that person is not a party (section 5(1)(a)); or
• to record a private conversation to which that person is a party (section 5(1)(b)).

The second limb is what sets WA apart from Queensland and Victoria. Being on the call does not, by itself, give you the right to record it. The penalty stated in section 5(1) is $5,000 or imprisonment for 12 months, or both, for an individual, and $50,000 for a body corporate.

Private conversation and listening device

Section 3 defines a private conversation as any conversation carried on in circumstances that may reasonably be taken to indicate that any of the parties wants it to be listened to only by themselves. It excludes a conversation carried on in circumstances in which the parties ought reasonably to expect that it may be overheard. A listening device is any instrument, apparatus, equipment or other device capable of being used to record, monitor or listen to a private conversation, other than a hearing aid or similar device.

Party and principal party

The WA Act uses two terms, and the exceptions depend on the difference. Under section 3, a principal party to a private conversation is a person by or to whom words are spoken in the course of it. A party is wider: it also includes a person who records, monitors or listens to those words with the express or implied consent of any of the people speaking. So an assistant who records a call at a solicitor's request is a party, and the client and the solicitor are the principal parties. Consent under the Act has to come from principal parties.

The exceptions in section 5

Section 5(3) says the ban on recording your own conversation does not apply in four cases. Two concern law enforcement officers and people acting on their instructions (section 5(3)(a) and (b)). The two that matter to everyone else are these.

1. Everyone consents. Each principal party to the private conversation consents, expressly or impliedly, to the recording (section 5(3)(c)).
2. Lawful interests. A principal party consents, expressly or impliedly, and the recording is reasonably necessary for the protection of the lawful interests of that principal party (section 5(3)(d)).

The lawful interests exception has two parts and both must be met: consent from a principal party, and reasonable necessity to protect that same person's lawful interests. The Act does not define "lawful interests". Whether a recording was "reasonably necessary" is judged on the facts of the case. A general wish to have an accurate record of a routine client call is a thin basis to rest on, and a business that records every call cannot sensibly plan around it.

Section 5(2) lists further cases where section 5(1) does not apply at all, including use under a warrant or emergency authorisation, use in accordance with a law of the Commonwealth (section 5(2)(c)), use in accordance with Part 5 (section 5(2)(d)), and the unintentional hearing of a private conversation (section 5(2)(e)).

The public interest exception in Part 5

WA is one of the states whose Act has a written public interest exception. Under section 26(1), a party to a private conversation may use a listening device to record or monitor it if a principal party consents, expressly or impliedly, and there are reasonable grounds for believing that the use of the device is in the public interest.

Section 24 says public interest "includes the interests of national security, public safety, the economic well-being of Australia, the protection of public health and morals and the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens". Section 25 adds that Part 5 does not apply if, in the course of installing or using the device, an act is done that is unlawful under another law.

There is a second step. Part 5 does not itself let the person publish what they recorded. Section 31 lets a judge make an order allowing a person to publish or communicate it if the judge is satisfied that publication should be made to protect or further the public interest, and section 32 sets out how to apply. The exception is tied to the public interest. It is not a route for recording ordinary client calls.

Publishing or sharing a recording in WA

Section 9(1) is a separate offence. A person must not knowingly publish or communicate a private conversation, or a report or record of a private conversation, that has come to their knowledge as a direct or indirect result of the use of a listening device. The penalty stated is $5,000 or imprisonment for 12 months, or both, for an individual, and $50,000 for a body corporate.

Two definitions in section 3 widen that. A "record" of a private conversation includes a statement prepared from such a record, and a "report" includes a report of the substance, meaning or purport of the conversation. On those words a transcript, or a summary written from the recording, can be within the section as well as the audio.

Section 9(2) lists when the offence does not apply. The ones relevant to a business are publication or communication:

• to a party to the private conversation (section 9(2)(a)(i));
• with the express or implied consent of each principal party (section 9(2)(a)(ii));
• in the course of the duty of the person making it (section 9(2)(a)(v));
• for the protection of the lawful interests of the person making it (section 9(2)(a)(vi));
• where the recording was made under the lawful interests exception in section 5(3)(d), in the course of reasonable action taken to protect the lawful interests of the principal party who consented (section 9(2)(a)(vii));
• in accordance with Part 5 (section 9(2)(a)(viii));
• in the course of any legal proceedings (section 9(2)(a)(ix)).

Western Australian law at a glance

Phone calls: the federal law that also applies

State Acts deal with listening devices. Phone calls are also covered by the Commonwealth Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979. Section 7(1) of that Act says a person shall not intercept a communication passing over a telecommunications system. Section 6(1) defines interception as listening to or recording a communication in its passage over the system without the knowledge of the person making it. Under section 105, contravening section 7(1) is an indictable offence punishable by imprisonment for up to 2 years. Whether a particular way of recording a call is recording it "in its passage" over the system depends on how the recording is made.

The two laws point the same way for a WA business. The federal Act asks whether the other person knew. The WA Act asks whether they consented. Telling the caller at the start and getting a yes answers both.

Interstate calls to and from WA

If you are in Perth, the WA Act is the one you start with, and it is among the stricter ones. If you are in a one-party state such as Queensland or Victoria and your client is in WA, do not assume your own state's rule is the only one in play. It is not settled which state's law governs a call that crosses a border, and the cautious reading is that the stricter rule could apply.

The other state pages cover the same ground for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Before a call, the free Can I record this call? tool shows the rule and the Act for each state.

Recording calls for business or note-taking in WA

For a firm that records client calls so it can write accurate file notes, the WA Act comes down to a short checklist.

1. Tell every person on the call that it is being recorded, before anything of substance is said.
2. Get a clear yes from each person who will speak. On a call with a couple, that means both of them.
3. Say what the recording is for and who will have access to it, so the consent covers the sharing dealt with in section 9 as well as the recording.
4. Write the consent into the file note: who was asked, what they said and the time.
5. If anyone says no, do not record. Take notes by hand and record that consent was declined.
6. Limit access to the recording and any transcript to people who need it, in line with section 9(3).

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) also applies to personal information held by organisations it covers, and your licensee, insurer or professional body may have a recording policy of its own.

Consent wording you can use

More examples, including a recorded message for inbound lines, are in call recording disclosure wording examples.

The example is fictional. Both clients are principal parties, so the note records an answer from each of them.

Where a transcript-based note tool fits

CallNote does not record calls, does not join meetings as a bot and does not store call audio. It works from a transcript that already exists, from Aircall, Dialpad or Microsoft Teams, or one you paste, upload or forward by email, and turns it into a file note in your firm's own format for you to review.

That does not remove the consent step. If your phone system or Teams records or transcribes the call, the WA Act applies to that, and you still need each principal party's agreement. What it means is that the note tool is not adding a recording of its own. For an in-person meeting you chose not to record, you can dictate a voice memo afterwards and CallNote will draft the note from your recollection. See do AI note takers record your calls, AI note takers that do not record and the page for law firms.

Common questions