How does a tree end up protected?
Usually in one of four ways. A register is a list of individual trees a council has assessed as special. A heritage listing protects a place, and often the trees that come with it. A planning control, such as a Victorian overlay or a Tasmanian code, is mapped over land. And a size test catches any tree over a set height, canopy or trunk measurement, listed or not.
They stack. One tree can be on a register, in a heritage area and big enough to pass a size test, each with its own approval. One call to the council beats any amount of guessing.
Where to look, state by state
| What usually protects a notable tree | Where to check first | |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | The council's DCP, its significant tree register and heritage listings. Clearing a registered or heritage tree needs a development application | Your council, then our NSW permits page |
| Victoria | Planning overlays (vegetation protection, significant landscape, environmental significance, heritage) and council local laws | VicPlan, then the council (Victorian permits) |
| Queensland | Council local laws and vegetation protection orders | Your council (Queensland permits) |
| South Australia | Regulated and significant trees, set by trunk size inside the Regulated and Significant Tree Overlay | The council (SA permits) |
| Western Australia | Council tree policies and tree preservation orders | Your local government (WA permits) |
| Tasmania | Significant trees listed in the council's planning scheme, under its heritage code | The council (Tasmanian permits) |
| ACT | The Urban Forest Act's size test, the ACT Tree Register and heritage listings | ACTmapi, then Access Canberra (ACT permits) |
| Northern Territory | We couldn't confirm a register or a private tree permit system | Your council (NT page) |
Significant tree registers
Registers are kept council by council, and what a listing means varies. In Randwick, every tree on the register needs development consent before it's significantly pruned or removed. Georges River shows a significant tree on private land on the lot's Section 10.7(5) planning certificate.
In Victoria a register only has teeth through an overlay or a local law. Banyule protects its listed trees through Schedule 4 to the Environmental Significance Overlay, and Kingston through ESO3. Bayside's local law changed on 1 November 2026 so that it now applies only to trees on its register, although planning controls can still catch others.
Elsewhere, Hobart publishes its list with an interactive map, Kingborough lists 668 significant trees in its interim planning scheme, and Fremantle keeps a Register of Significant Trees and Vegetation Areas. Brisbane protects significant trees with vegetation protection orders.
Registers also grow. The National Trust says councils usually update theirs every 2 to 5 years, so a tree that wasn't listed when you moved in may be listed now.
Is the National Trust register the same thing?
Not in Victoria. The National Trust has classified more than 15,500 Victorian trees since 1982, but it's a non-government organisation with no statutory power to protect them. When it lists a tree it tells the council and urges a local listing, and that's where legal protection comes from.
Trust registers feed into councils in other states too. Hobart's list includes trees on the Tasmanian register, and Adelaide Hills Council may ask for an arborist's report when a tree is on the South Australian one.
Heritage-listed trees
In NSW, clearing that affects a heritage item or sits in a heritage area needs a development application. On the State Heritage Register, anything outside the standard or site-specific exemptions needs approval first, and the standard exemptions cap pruning of significant vegetation at 30% of the canopy in any two years.
Victoria's Heritage Overlay reaches trees where the council's schedule says tree controls apply to that place. Tasmania's Local Historic Heritage Code covers listed significant trees as well as heritage places. In the ACT, a heritage tree can also be protected under the Heritage Act 2004.
Size tests: protected by measurement
South Australia protects by trunk size inside the Regulated and Significant Tree Overlay, which covers metropolitan Adelaide, Adelaide Hills Council townships and parts of Mount Barker. Since 16 May 2024, a regulated tree has a trunk circumference of 1 metre or more and a significant tree 2 metres or more, measured 1 metre above natural ground.
The ACT protects a living tree on leased land that's 8 metres tall, has a canopy 8 metres wide, or has a trunk 1 metre around at 1.4 metres. A dead native tree is protected from 1.88 metres around at the same height.
Victoria's canopy tree clause now counts a tree at least 5 metres tall with an average canopy at least 4 metres across, and some councils add their own tests. Stonnington protects a tree 140 cm or more around at 1.4 m. Darebin's significant tree is over 100cm around at 1.5m and taller than 8m. In Perth, South Perth's regulated tree is 8 metres tall, has a 6 metre average canopy or a 1.5 metre trunk circumference at 1.4 metres.
The measuring heights differ: 1 metre in SA, 1.4 metres in the ACT, 1.5 metres in Darebin. Measure where your rule says.
How to find out if your tree is protected
Start with your state
Our tree permit pages set out each state's framework and link the councils we've covered so far.
Check the map
VicPlan shows the zones and overlays for any Victorian address. In the ACT, City Services says to check ACTmapi. In SA, the overlay decides whether the trunk size rules apply at all.
Search the council's register
Many councils publish theirs, some with a map. Search by street address and species.
Ask about heritage and local laws
A register isn't the only list. Ask whether the property is heritage-listed or in a heritage area, and whether a tree local law applies on top of the planning rules.
Measure it from the ground
Run a tape around the trunk at the height your rule uses, note the rough height and canopy spread, and photograph the tree from a few sides.
Get the answer in writing
An email from the council saying what applies protects you, and whoever does the work, if questions come up later.
What you can do, and what needs an arborist
You can
- Measure the trunk with a tape, standing on the ground.
- Photograph the tree and note any damage or dieback.
- Check the state map and the council's register.
- Water and mulch a listed tree in dry spells.
- Ask the council in writing what protects it.
Leave to an arborist
- A written assessment for a permit application, from a consulting arborist (the Diploma level, AQF 5).
- Any pruning of a listed tree once it's approved. In the ACT, even minor pruning of a registered tree needs approval first.
- Work near its roots during building: see tree protection zones.
Significant, protected and regulated trees: what to do next
We'd treat any big, old or unusual tree as protected until the council says otherwise in writing. Before booking any work, we'd check the map, the register and the heritage list, then ask the council the direct question: does anything protect this tree? If the answer's yes, we'd get a consulting arborist's report before applying, because councils such as Kingston and Banyule ask for one when a listed tree is involved.
Want an arborist to look at it?
Tell us the job and your postcode, and a local arborist calls you to talk it through.