In South Australia, councils deal with noise from household pool pumps and air conditioners as neighbourhood nuisance, under the state’s Local Nuisance and Litter Control Act 2016. Tasmania’s Regulations give heating and cooling devices and pumps prohibited hours and set emission limits for fixed equipment such as heat pumps, and Western Australia’s Regulations set limits on noise emissions, which local governments apply to household noise.
General informationDotto is not an acoustic consultant, an engineer or a noise regulator. Dotto holds no engineering registration. It does not measure, assess, test or reduce noise, and does not offer or arrange that work. This is general information, not advice. The pages this guide summarises are linked at the foot of this page and are the place to check each state’s rules.
What each page gives for a fixed machine
| Place | Hours | A measured limit | Who acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Australia | None printed on the page | None given; the test is nuisance | The council |
| Tasmania | Set by the Regulations for heating and cooling devices and pumps ; the page’s table lists no heating or cooling device | Emission limits for fixed equipment such as heat pumps; not printed | In general, local government and Tasmania Police |
| Western Australia | None printed on the page | Limits on noise emissions in the Regulations; not printed | Local governments, for household noise |
South Australia: the nuisance test
EPA South Australia’s page explains neighbourhood nuisance as harm to the amenity of an area that gets in the way, or is likely to get in the way, of people’s enjoyment of it beyond what is reasonable, whether they occupy a place there or are lawfully present. Noise is one of its forms, alongside vibration, dust and odour, and it can come from homes as well as from commercial and industrial premises.
The test is about ordinary life: an activity is a nuisance only if it unreasonably stops a person from doing the normal things they could reasonably expect to do. Nothing on the page turns that into an hour or a decibel figure for a household machine.
Where the machines appear
- Among the common examples of nuisance that councils manage, the page lists noise from household pool pumps and air conditioners.
- Noise from commercial refrigeration units is on the same list.
- In its table of who handles which complaint, the page files fixed machines such as air conditioners and pool pumps under domestic machine noise, beside non-fixed machines such as power tools.
Councils handle all of this under the 2016 Act named at the top of this page, and the page sends complaints and questions about neighbourhood nuisance to the council.
The 2025 amending Act
Parliament passed an amending Act, the “Local Nuisance and Litter Control (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2025”, on 29 October 2025, to give councils better tools for nuisance and litter. The page says every part of it except sections 7 and 14 commenced on 18 June 2026.
The page’s questions on the amendments also describe registering a nuisance abatement notice against land; once registered, the notice binds each later owner and occupier of that land. Where an abatement notice is not complied with, the page says significant penalties apply, and the Act lets councils enter land or vehicles where needed to carry out the work.
Tasmania: hours and emission limits
Tasmania’s Noise Regulations aim to keep community noise down in residential neighbourhoods, and they do it by giving common sources prohibited hours of use; appliances, heating and cooling devices and pumps are among the sources named. For fixed equipment such as heat pumps the Regulations also set noise emission limits, because, EPA Tasmania explains, that equipment is relatively easy to measure.
The current Regulations are dated 2026 and note the penalties for prescribed offences, and EPA Tasmania says they are generally put into effect by local government and Tasmania Police. The page’s table of prohibited times lists pumps only within mobile machinery and portable equipment, and lists no heating or cooling device; it gives no emission limits either, so this guide holds no Tasmanian figures for these machines.
Western Australia: limits in the Regulations
The Environmental Protection (Noise) Regulations 1997 are a prescribed standard, and they set limits on noise emissions. The department’s own work is with industries that are prescribed premises; household, commercial and general industry noise is for local governments, using the Regulations. A noisy party is a police matter, dealt with under the Act’s unreasonable noise provisions rather than the Regulations.
All of that is as at the department’s page, last updated on 13 November 2023. The page gives none of the Regulations’ figures, and neither does this guide.