Before any clearing starts
None of these rules covers trees near power lines. If a tree is anywhere near a line, call the network first: our power lines guide shows which network to call. Taking a tree down is arborist work, especially near a house, a fence or on a slope. And look the tree over for nests and hollows before anyone cuts.
The rules at a glance
| The rule | What it can cover | |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | The 10/50 Vegetation Clearing Code, in mapped entitlement areas | Trees within 10 m of a home, shrubs within 50 m |
| Victoria | Clause 52.12: the 10/30 and fence line rules, plus a 50 m rule in the Bushfire Management Overlay | Any vegetation within 10 m of an older home, non-tree vegetation to 30 m (50 m in the overlay), and a strip along older boundary fences |
| Western Australia | Firebreak and hazard reduction notices from your local government | Whatever your shire's notice requires, which differs shire to shire |
| South Australia | A bushfire carve-out in the regulated tree rules | Regulated or significant trees within 20 metres of a dwelling in a Medium or High Bushfire Risk area |
| Tasmania | Planning scheme exemptions for fire hazard management | Clearing under an approved or endorsed bushfire hazard management plan, or required by law or an abatement notice |
| Queensland | No state rule confirmed for urban lots | Ask the council |
| ACT | Nothing like 10/50 found | The usual Urban Forest Act approval, with an urgent route for immediate risk |
| Northern Territory | Not confirmed | Ask the council |
NSW: the 10/50 rule
In a mapped NSW 10/50 entitlement area, the RFS lets you clear trees within 10 metres of a home, and shrubs but not trees out to 50 metres. It only counts if the RFS online tool says so on the day you clear, and it gives way to heritage listings, covenants and consent conditions. Our 10/50 guide covers the detail, including the trunk test.
Victoria: 10/30, the fence line rule and the overlay
Victoria's bushfire exemptions sit in clause 52.12 of every planning scheme and apply to native and non-native vegetation alike. Where land is mapped as a designated bushfire prone area, you can clear any vegetation, trees included, within 10 metres of an existing home, and anything except trees within 30 metres. Inside the Bushfire Management Overlay, non-tree vegetation can go out to 50 metres.
The dates decide a lot. Only homes built or approved before 10 September 2009 get the 10 m and 30 m rules, along with homes that replaced one lost to bushfire between 1 January and 31 March 2009. The 50 m rule also takes in homes lawfully built without a planning permit before 18 November 2011.
The fence line rule covers a boundary fence between different owners in a bushfire prone area, if the fence went up before 10 September 2009. Clearing on both sides combined can't be more than 4 metres wide, or 1 metre on the other side where 4 metres is already clear, and the neighbour's side needs their written permission first.
Clause 52.12 overrides planning scheme permits, overlays included, but not covenants or legal agreements that protect native vegetation. Not every exemption applies in the Shire of Yarra Ranges, and we couldn't confirm how the rules sit with council local laws, so ask the council. See the Victorian permits page.
Western Australia: firebreak notices
Under section 33 of the Bush Fires Act 1954, WA local governments can require owners or occupiers to put in firebreaks and reduce bushfire hazards by notice. It may come to you in writing, or be published for everyone in the Government Gazette and a local newspaper, so know where your shire publishes its.
Every shire sets its own firebreak sizes and dates. A notice can ask for an asset protection zone around buildings or for lower tree branches to be pruned, and it still applies if the property has an approved Bushfire Management Plan. If it isn't done, the shire can fine you, or send officers to do the work and recover the cost.
On the state side, a notice's terms can exempt a landowner from needing a clearing permit under the Environmental Protection Act 1986, and re-clearing previously cleared native vegetation within 20 metres of a building sits outside the clearing permit rules, except in environmentally sensitive areas. Council tree policies, such as Belmont's and South Perth's, are separate.
South Australia and Tasmania
South Australia's regulated tree rules make room for removing a regulated or significant tree within 20 metres of a dwelling in a Medium or High Bushfire Risk area. Whether your block sits in one of those areas is a mapping question, so confirm it with the council before anything comes down. The SA permits page covers the rest of the regulated tree rules.
Tasmania's planning scheme exemptions include fire hazard management under a bushfire hazard management plan, either approved for a use or development or endorsed by the Tasmania Fire Service or the council, and hazard reduction required under the Fire Service Act 1979 or an abatement notice. Kingborough may require a plan setting out the minimum clearing needed.
Queensland, the ACT and the NT: thinner rules
We couldn't confirm a Queensland state rule that lets owners clear trees on urban lots for bushfire protection. The Queensland Government says to check with your local government even where state rules let clearing go ahead, and some councils have their own local laws.
We found nothing like 10/50 in the ACT, so treat bushfire tree work there as needing the usual approval. For a private tree that's an immediate safety risk, ask Access Canberra for an urgent circumstances authorisation.
We couldn't check the Northern Territory's firebreak rules at an official source, so ask your council before clearing.
Check before you cut
Confirm the rule applies to your address, today
In NSW that's the RFS tool on the day. In Victoria, it's whether your home sits on the mapped bushfire prone area or overlay, and when it was built. In WA, it's your shire's current notice.
Ask the council what the rule doesn't override
Covenants, heritage listings, development consent conditions and local laws can all still apply. Get the answer by email.
Get written permission for the neighbour's side
Victoria needs it in writing. Under NSW 10/50, a trunk that straddles the boundary needs every owner's approval.
Look up and look in
Power lines go to the network. Nests and hollows can bring wildlife laws into play, and NSW's RFS warns that 10/50 doesn't protect you from them.
Use an insured arborist for the trees
The RFS recommends trained, qualified operators with current workers compensation and public liability insurance. Keep the notice, map or tool result with the quote.
What you can do, and what's arborist work
You can
- Rake up leaf litter and loose bark around the house.
- Cut back shrubs and small branches from the ground with hand tools, within what your rule covers.
- Keep a copy of your notice, map or RFS result.
- Ask the council in writing about covenants and local laws.
Leave to an arborist
- Taking down any tree.
- Lifting lower branches you can't reach with both feet on the ground.
- Anything near a power line, which goes to the network first.
- Grinding out stumps, once underground services are located.
Clearing trees for bushfire safety: what to do next
We'd read our state's rule the day the work starts, then ring the council with one question: is there anything on this block the bushfire rule doesn't override? Then we'd have an insured arborist quote the tree work with the rule and the distances written into the quote, so everyone is working to the same plan.
Want an arborist to look at it?
Tell us the job and your postcode, and a local arborist calls you to talk it through.