Perth tent given Thursday deadline

The Nyoongar Tent Embassy on Perth's Heirisson Island has been given until midday on Thursday to decamp.

A group of campers pitched tents on the Swan River island more than a week ago, declaring it a refuge for homeless Nyoongar people and part of the national sovereignty movement.

City of Perth Chief Executive Gary Stevenson has arranged for welfare support agencies to visit the camp over the past few days to offer support to homeless individuals.

Mr Stevenson says the city has been communicating with organisers under difficult circumstances, as contacts had changed without notice.

He says the group now seems to be more of a political protest on broader state and federal issues, rather than on the needs of homeless, and the illegal camping could not continue.

Mr Stevenson says the campers have been given until midday on Thursday to decamp.

"The next step is entirely in their hands," Mr Stevenson told Fairfax radio on Wednesday.

Mr Stevenson says the city is planning for the worst case scenario of forced eviction and had communicated with other agencies to assist in the camp's dismantling.

Weeks of protests were held on Heirisson Island in 2012 after a group of Aboriginal activists objected to the WA government's $1.3 billion native title offer to the Nyoongar people.