Bushfire clearing rules in Queensland: fire requisitions and the Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast permit pages
Section 145G of the Fire Services Act 1990 lets the fire commissioner require an occupier to reduce fire risk, including by dealing with vegetation. Three councils then set their own permit pages for vegetation near a house, with different distances and limits.
This page is for tree owners. It reports what the named sources say and is not advice about your tree: for that, ask a qualified arborist or one of the offices under Who to call.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes section 145G of the Queensland Fire Services Act 1990 and the pages and fact sheet of Brisbane City Council, Gold Coast City Council and Sunshine Coast Council, as read on October 9, 2026. It covers those four sources only, not every Queensland council. The Victorian equivalent is in the guide to Victoria's 10/30 and 10/50 clearing rules, and power line clearing is a separate rule.
What the Act says
Section 145G lets the commissioner require any occupier of premises to take measures to reduce the risk of a fire occurring there or the danger to people, property or the environment if one does. A requisition can go to one occupier by notice, or to every occupier in an area by a gazette notification. The Act lists what may be required: making and keeping firebreaks as directed, removing or dealing with vegetation or other flammable material as directed, keeping fire fighting equipment and water, keeping a means of escape usable, and suspending operations. Failing to comply carries a maximum penalty of 50 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment. Where an occupier does not comply, an authorised fire officer may enter and take the measures, and the commissioner can recover the cost from the occupier.
What three councils say
| Council | What the source says about fire clearing | Distances and limits it names |
|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | Clearing a firebreak needs a permit under the Natural Assets Local Law 2003 unless a Fire Warden or the fire service has directed it. Installing fire breaks, fire access lines and prescribed burns need a permit application | For all but significant landscape trees, the fact sheet lists no permit as required to remove a tree whose whole trunk is within 3 metres of an occupied dwelling on a lot of 4000 square metres or less, or within 6 metres on a larger lot, and none for dead trees under 20 cm trunk diameter that are not habitat |
| Gold Coast | The page lists vegetation that is a potential bushfire hazard around an approved dwelling, where it lies in the City Plan Bushfire Hazard Map and there is no approved bushfire management plan, among the grounds for removal without a development approval | Assessable vegetation is more than 4 metres high, or has a trunk over 40 centimetres around at 1.3 metres, or is mapped remnant or regrowth vegetation |
| Sunshine Coast | Special provisions cover necessary fire management lines and firebreaks that protect buildings, and works under a fire service permit are exempt from council approval | With no approved building envelope, clearing is capped at a total of 600 square metres, within 20 metres of a building or structure or, in a bushfire hazard area, 1.5 times the height of the predominant tree canopy |
Where the sources add conditions
Brisbane's fact sheet says vegetation clearing for fire management that is exempt under the state Planning Regulation 2017 may need approval under the local law, and that it may ask for a bushfire management plan with a permit application. For new dwellings it says a Bushfire Attack Level assessment under AS 3959 is part of an application to remove protected vegetation for fire management. It also says pruning needs no permit where no more than 20 percent of the live foliage volume is removed in any 12 month period, spread evenly over the crown, for most protected categories, and that significant landscape trees need a permit.
Sunshine Coast's page says unnecessary clearing may present a greater long term risk because a cleared grassy or shrub layer can be more flammable. It says to follow the state government's accepted development vegetation clearing code and that council must be told as soon as possible of any vegetation cleared under the direction of fire officers during an emergency. Gold Coast's page lists as other grounds for removal without approval a pest species named by a Level 3 Arborist and a tree found dangerous by a Council Level 5 Arborist.
Who to call
- Brisbane City Council: protected vegetation permits, including clearing for fire management under its Natural Assets Local Law 2003
- Queensland Fire Department: requisitions under section 145G of the Fire Services Act 1990, and permits to light fires, which the Brisbane City Council fact sheet says come from the local fire warden
Sources
- Queensland Parliamentary Counsel, Fire Services Act 1990, section 145G Requisition by commissioner to reduce fire risk, read October 9, 2026
- Brisbane City Council, Bushfire preparation and protected vegetation fact sheet, read October 9, 2026
- Brisbane City Council, Protected vegetation permits, read October 9, 2026
- City of Gold Coast, Tree and vegetation removal on private land, read October 9, 2026
- Sunshine Coast Council, Tree clearing on private property, read October 9, 2026