Australia’s nude beaches, state by state

Australia was early to legal nude bathing. South Australia declared the country’s first official nude beach in 1975, the Northern Territory passed a Nudity Act the same year, and a Sydney Harbour beach followed in 1976. Today every state and territory treats it differently – from New South Wales, with five designated beaches, to Queensland and Tasmania, which have none.

This guide sets out where nude bathing is legal, where it’s only tolerated, what’s allowed once you’re there – and what Australians who use these beaches say about them.

The one rule that applies everywhere

A clothing-optional beach makes it legal to be naked in a marked area. That’s all it does. Anything sexual is still an offence, on the sand, in the water or in the dunes behind – as the mayor of Rockingham in Western Australia pointed out when residents complained about his city’s nude beach. The legal area usually stops at the signs, and often doesn’t include the dunes at all.

Regulars take this seriously, because they know what happens otherwise. Nude beaches in Australia have been fenced off, patrolled and stripped of their status after complaints, and the people who lose out are the ones who just wanted to swim.

New South Wales

New South Wales has five beaches designated for nude bathing under a 1996 state law: Lady Bay, the oldest, designated in 1976; Cobblers and Obelisk, on Sydney Harbour; Werrong, a steep walk down in the Royal National Park; and Samurai, at Port Stephens. Cobblers is the classic first-timer’s beach – regulars say most people there are ordinary beachgoers who just like being nude, and they don’t take kindly to anything sexual on the sand.

The state also shows how a nude beach can disappear. Tyagarah, near Byron Bay, lost its clothing-optional status in August 2024 after national parks staff found it sat on nature reserve land, and no replacement was named. Several other beaches are used by naturists without being legal. See our guide to Sydney and New South Wales.

Victoria

Victoria has three: Sunnyside North at Mount Eliza, the only one in metropolitan Melbourne; and Point Impossible and Southside on the Surf Coast. Sunnyside’s status was reviewed in 2022, and the shire voted to keep it – with more attention on behaviour. Point Impossible came close to losing its status earlier: after residents complained in 2006 of men using the dunes for sex, the dunes were fenced off and patrolled, and councillors debated asking for the status to be removed.

Melbourne’s naturists are a welcoming crowd. A couple in their thirties on only their third visit said it’s amazing how quickly you feel comfortable. More in our guide to Melbourne and Victoria.

Queensland

Queensland has no legal nude beach. Alexandria Bay, in Noosa National Park, has long been used unofficially, but in April 2023 police ran an operation there after complaints about lewd behaviour: eleven people were fined for wilful exposure and one man was charged with an indecent act. Naturists responded by calling for a legal beach. A few other spots, such as Balding Bay on Magnetic Island, carry informal signs, but being naked anywhere in Queensland can still get you fined. See Brisbane and Queensland.

Western Australia

Western Australia has no state law on nude beaches; councils decide. Warnbro Beach at Port Kennedy has allowed nude bathing on a marked stretch since 1988. North Swanbourne, near Cottesloe, has had a clothing-optional section for decades, though its legal footing has never been clear-cut. In Broome, the beach north of the rocks at Cable Beach is a long-standing nude tradition – but the shire says its local laws don’t actually permit nudity anywhere. See Perth and Western Australia.

South Australia

The southern end of Maslin Beach became Australia’s first official nude beach in February 1975, and South Australia’s Summary Offences Act still protects nudity in an area reserved for nude bathing. Maslin’s regulars look after it: in 2014 a group of nudists surrounded a man they believed was secretly filming people with a camera hidden in an esky. See Adelaide and South Australia.

Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory

Tasmania has no legal nude beach. West Tamar Council approved one in Narawntapu National Park at the end of 2023 and backed down six months later after an outcry. The exception is one morning a year: around 3,000 people joined Hobart’s Nude Solstice Swim in 2025. See Hobart and Tasmania.

The ACT has Kambah Pool on the Murrumbidgee, a designated nude area set by territory regulation – which means it can be removed the same way. The gates close in the evening, earlier in winter. See Canberra and the ACT.

The Northern Territory has Casuarina Beach in Darwin, declared a free area in 1976 under the Territory’s 1975 Nudity Act – one of the oldest in the country. See Darwin and the Northern Territory.

What Australians who go say about it

First visits usually go better than people expect. One man who took his wife to Sunnyside on a Monday found it packed, with a nice mix of people and no strange vibes. A Sydney couple said their nerves vanished within seconds of getting their kit off at Cobblers, and they couldn’t wait to go back.

The complaints are almost always about a minority of men. Women at beaches from Sunnyside to Swanbourne describe being stared at, men touching themselves nearby, and strangers sitting far too close. A Kambah Pool regular’s advice to men on how to approach women there was simply: don’t – and certainly don’t ask a naked stranger for a hug. Regulars push back too: one told a group of men behaving badly that they were the fastest way to get the beach’s status taken away. For more on this, see Dogging for women in Australia.

Nude beach etiquette for first-timers

• Stay inside the signs. The legal area is marked; outside it, and often in the dunes, nudity is an offence.
• Don’t stare, and give people space. Ask before setting up close to anyone.
• No photos of other people. Ever.
• Sit on a towel, bring water and plenty of sunscreen – skin that never sees the sun burns fast.
• Go with others if you’re nervous. Couples who’d been bothered on earlier visits say setting up as a group made everyone feel safer.
• Keep anything sexual away from the beach entirely. It’s an offence, and it’s how beaches get closed.

What about dogging at the beach?

Plenty of people search for it, and nude beaches are the wrong place for it – for all the reasons above. The couples who enjoy being watched outdoors arrange it privately, somewhere away from families and swimmers, with people who’ve agreed to be there. Our guide to dogging as a couple in Australia explains how, and for one couple’s own account of a beach encounter, read our beach dogging story.

Meeting like-minded people

Whether you’re after a relaxed day at a nude beach or something more private, it helps to know who you’re meeting.

WhosDogging has been running since 2006, and joining is free. Find members across Australia, get chatting, and make your plans together – the right way, somewhere that suits everyone. For the bigger picture, start with Dogging in Australia.