In Western Australia the owners on each side of a dividing fence share the cost of building and repairing a sufficient fence in equal halves. A sale does not wipe that slate clean: half the value of a fence put up without notice, and never half-paid by anyone on the other side, can still be claimed from whoever owns the neighbouring land when the Act’s conditions are met.
General information, not legal advice. This page is read from the Dividing Fences Act 1961, the WA Government’s dividing fences guide and the City of Canning. In most cases a fence dispute between neighbours is a civil matter for the Magistrates Court; Legal Aid WA publishes information on neighbour disputes, and a lawyer can advise on a particular fence.
What the Act calls a sufficient fence
The Act shares the cost of a “sufficient fence”, not of whatever fence one neighbour would like. Its definition runs in order:
“sufficient fence … means … (a) any fence prescribed by a local law as a sufficient fence for the part of the local government district in which the dividing fence or boundary fence is, or is to be, erected; or (b) any fence of the description and quality agreed upon by the parties concerned which does not fail to comply with any local law referred to in paragraph (a), or where no such local law or agreement is made, means … (c) any substantial fence that is ordinarily capable of resisting the trespass of cattle and sheep; …”
Dividing Fences Act 1961 (WA), section 5(1). Based on content from the Western Australian Legislation website at 8 October 2026. For the latest information on Western Australian legislation, visit www.legislation.wa.gov.au. © State of Western Australia, CC BY 4.0
A neighbour who builds something grander without agreement can, in the WA Government guide’s words, claim only half the cost of a sufficient fence.
What the City of Canning looks after
The City’s information sheet separates its job from the neighbours’. Its approval is needed only for a fence higher than 2.2 m behind the front setback line, or one that departs from the City’s standard requirements; an over-height application comes with a site plan, the fence’s height and materials, and the neighbour’s written consent.
Its standards list the materials a dividing fence may use, from brick and timber to corrugated fibre cement, and allow second-hand material only with Council’s prior approval. The City deals with height, materials and dangerous or run-down fences under its local law, but keeps out of how the cost is shared, a civil matter under the Act.
The notices, and their clocks
Most fences are settled by agreement, and an agreement between the neighbours takes priority over the Act. When it fails, the Act runs on notices, each with its own time limit. The WA guide says a notice must be in writing, signed, and handed over in person or sent by registered post.
| Step | What happens | Section |
|---|---|---|
| A new fence | The notice names the boundary or line, proposes the fencing and the kind of fence. If the owners have not agreed within 21 days, either may apply to the court nearest the fence, and its order is final. | 8, 9 |
| Agreed but not built | If one owner does not do their part within the agreed time, or within 3 months where none was set, the other may build the whole fence and recover half the cost. | 10 |
| Where the line is | An owner may give notice of a survey. The neighbour has 7 days to peg the line or engage a surveyor. If the survey matches the neighbour’s pegs, the owner who gave notice pays for it; otherwise the cost is shared. | 12 |
| A repair | The notice offers to share the cost in one of three ways. The neighbour has 14 days to reply in writing; with no reply, the owner may repair and recover half. | 15 |
| Storm, flood or fire | Either owner may repair at once without notice and recover half. Where fire or a falling tree did the damage through one owner’s neglect, that owner repairs it. | 15(7) |
When either house changes hands
Two parts of the Act reach past the owners who were there when the fence went up, and a third leaves older agreements standing.
A fence built without notice
Where an owner built a sufficient fence without the section 8 notice and has never received half its value from the neighbouring owner or any previous owner, the builder may claim half the value, as estimated at the date of the claim, once the neighbouring owner has completed a substantial building or structure on their land, occupies one there, or lets someone else lawfully occupy one. The owner who receives the claim has one month either to pay it or to dispute it in writing, on the need for the fence, its desirability, its type or its value; silence leaves them liable for the amount claimed.
A fence built by court order
Where the neighbouring owner could not be found and the court authorised the fence, a copy of the order can later be given to the owner once located, “whether or not such owner was the owner of the land at the time of the construction of the fence”. After a month, that owner is liable for half the fence’s value at the date the copy is given, unless the court grants relief.
Agreements and covenants
The Act leaves untouched any covenant, contract or agreement between neighbours about fencing costs. The WA guide suggests checking the certificate of title with Landgate for covenants that deal with dividing fences. In a community titles scheme, the scheme’s by-laws can decide fence questions between lots and common property.
Older fences, and public land
Some established homes still have asbestos cement fencing. Because asbestos is banned in Australia, the WA guide explains that damaged sheets cannot be patched with new asbestos sheets; the repair means replacing the fence with non-asbestos fencing. The national Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is “not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself”, and that a professional is the easier, safer and often cheaper choice. Asbestos waste may only go to a landfill licensed to accept it, and putting it in a household rubbish bin can bring a fine.
For homes in WA, WorkSafe WA says an owner may remove some non-friable asbestos, yet it strongly recommends a licensed asbestos removalist, and it says no amount of exposure to asbestos is safe. Its page on the law adds that asbestos fibres, once breathed in, can cause serious illness such as mesothelioma, asbestosis or lung cancer; that a licensed asbestos removalist must do any job involving friable (crumbly or easily broken) asbestos, or more than 10 m² of the non-friable kind; and that the waste must be handled safely, transported properly and delivered to a disposal facility licensed for asbestos in WA.
HealthyWA says power tools must never be used to drill, cut, sand or remove materials that contain asbestos, since doing so releases fibres, and that a high-pressure cleaner must never be used on asbestos cement roofing or cladding. The national agency says never to clean an asbestos cement roof or any other asbestos material with high-pressure water, or by an abrasive method such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding. Queensland’s government asbestos site, for homeowners in that state, includes sawing, sanding, scraping and drilling holes in asbestos materials in its list of things not to do.
Where the land next door is government land used for public purposes, the WA guide says the Crown does not have to contribute. A dividing fence that also forms part of a pool barrier has to meet the pool rules too, set out in pool barriers and inspections; a boundary retaining wall built without a permit belongs with unauthorised work.