Perth is the most isolated major modelling market in Australia, and that shapes everything about how it works. The local client base is real but finite, competition is lighter than the east coast, and most working models here eventually hold representation in more than one city.
What the WA Market Books
Perth's bread and butter is commercial: retail and catalogue, corporate and resources-sector campaigns, lifestyle, tourism, and local advertising. Editorial and high fashion work exists but is thin compared with Sydney and Melbourne.
The practical consequence is that the commercial board is where a Perth career is built. Height matters far less than being castable, professional, and easy to work with on the day.
The Boards
- Commercial — the core of the market. Retail, corporate, lifestyle, advertising.
- Fashion — smaller. Women generally from around 175cm, men from around 183cm.
- Talent — presenters, actors, corporate video and voice.
- Kids and family — present and active. Read our parent's guide first if this applies to you.
- Classic — models over roughly 35, consistently in demand for corporate and retail.
Agencies That Operate in Perth
Established agencies with a Perth presence. Verify current boards and submission requirements on each agency's own site.
- Viviens Model Management — national agency with a Perth office.
- Chadwick Models — national representation, places WA talent interstate.
- Scene Model Management — representation across fashion and commercial.
- Etoile Models — Perth-based agency.
- Pulse Management — WA model and talent representation.
- Vivid Talent — Perth talent and model representation.
The Interstate Question
Sooner or later a Perth-based model asks whether to move east. There is no universal answer, but there is a sensible sequence: build a book and a track record locally first, get comfortable in casting rooms, then approach east coast agencies with evidence rather than potential. Arriving in Sydney with a working portfolio and references is a completely different conversation from arriving with digitals.
Open Calls and How They Actually Work
Many Australian agencies run an open call, sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly, sometimes only by appointment. It is the lowest-friction way into a room with a booker, and almost nobody uses it properly.
What to expect: it is short. You will likely be measured, photographed against a wall, asked a few questions, and told they will be in touch. That is not a brush-off, that is the format. Arrive with clean hair, minimal makeup, fitted plain clothes, and heels if you have them. Bring your digitals printed or on your phone.
What decides it is rarely the conversation. It is whether your look fills a gap on their board right now. A "no" often means "not this season", which is why models who get signed frequently got a no from the same agency a year earlier.
How to Submit to an Agency Properly
Most rejected submissions are not rejected on looks. They are rejected because they arrived in the wrong format, in the wrong place, or with the wrong information missing. Agents open dozens of these a day. Make yours easy.
What to send
- Digitals. Four to six photos, taken on a phone, in daylight, against a plain wall. Front, side, back, one smiling, one straight-faced. No makeup, no filters, no retouching. Hair down and natural.
- Full-length and close-up. Agents need to see your face clearly and your proportions honestly. One without the other is an incomplete submission.
- Your stats. Height, bust or chest, waist, hips, dress or suit size, shoe size, hair colour, eye colour, and your age. In centimetres for Australian agencies.
- Your location and availability. Whether you can get to castings in that city on short notice matters more than most applicants realise.
Send exactly what the agency's submission page asks for and nothing else. No cover letter essay, no professional shoot, no heavily edited Instagram grid. Our guide to building a modelling portfolio covers what comes after you are signed, and it is deliberately not what you send first.
What never to send money for
A legitimate agency earns a commission on work you book. That is the entire business model. If an agency, a scout or a "talent manager" asks you to pay for representation, a mandatory photoshoot with their photographer, a portfolio package, or a place on a website, that is not an agency in the sense you want. We break the economics down in what it actually costs to become a model.
Red Flags, Specifically in the Australian Market
- Upfront fees of any kind. Australian agencies deduct commission from what you earn. They do not invoice you to join.
- A compulsory in-house photographer. Being told you must shoot with one specific photographer, at your cost, before anything happens is the oldest pattern in the industry.
- Scouted by DM only. Real scouts exist and do approach people. Verify every approach through the agency's official website or phone number before you send anything or go anywhere.
- "Guaranteed" work. Nobody can guarantee bookings. Any agency implying they can is selling you something other than representation.
- Vague client lists. A working agency can point to campaigns, brands and shows. If nobody on the board seems to work, ask why.
- Pressure to sign on the spot. Take the contract home. Read it. Our guide to choosing an agency covers the clauses that matter.
Australian consumer law gives you real protection here, and reputable agencies have no problem with you taking your time.
Your Next Step
Shoot clean digitals, get your measurements in centimetres, target the Perth agencies whose commercial clients match your look, and learn what actually happens in a casting before you walk into one. Our free runway module, taught by the producer behind Australian Fashion Week, is the fastest way to do the last part.
