Bushfire clearing rules in South Australia: the 10 metre and 20 metre native vegetation rules and large trees
South Australia lets owners clear native vegetation near a building without approval, within set distances, and sends clearing further out, and large trees between 10 and 20 metres of a dwelling, to the Country Fire Service. The CFS and the Native Vegetation Council publish the figures.
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 the Country Fire Service (CFS) page on native vegetation management, the guide Managing Native Vegetation: How to reduce the impact of bushfire, dated August 2020 and written by the South Australian Government, the CFS and the Native Vegetation Council, the CFS page on preparing a home and property, and the State Bushfire Coordination Committee's firebreak guidelines, version 4, February 2015, all read on October 9, 2026. It covers South Australia only. The Victorian rule is in the guide to Victoria's 10/30 and 10/50 clearing rules.
The distances
| Purpose | What the guide says can be done | Approval |
|---|---|---|
| Protect a building | Reduce, modify or remove native vegetation within 10 m of a building, including overhanging limbs or entire trees if deemed a fire risk | Not needed, per the CFS table |
| Protect a dwelling | A further 10 m, 20 m in total, from a dwelling. This does not include large trees: a trunk circumference of 2 m or more, measured 1 m up | CFS for the large trees between 10 m and 20 m |
| Further than 20 m | Modify or remove native vegetation to reduce fuel loads | CFS |
| Fuel break along a fence | Up to 5 m wide along an existing fence line | Not needed, per the CFS table |
| Primary production fuel break | Up to 20 m wide, on a property where primary production is one of the main uses, in a rural council area | CFS |
| Fire access track | Up to 15 m wide, to the standards in the guide's Appendix 4 | CFS |
What the sources add
The guide cites Native Vegetation Regulation 8(1) for the 10 metre rule and says it does not apply in the River Murray Flood Plain Zone. It says clearance under the guide applies to existing buildings, dwellings and infrastructure, and that clearing for a new dwelling goes to the Native Vegetation Council instead. It says the permission does not cover vegetation on a neighbour's land without that landowner's permission.
The CFS page and the guide both say significant or regulated trees are handled separately: the guide's glossary defines a regulated or large tree as one with a trunk circumference of 2 metres or more, and a significant tree as one of 3 metres or more, both measured 1 metre above natural ground level. The CFS page's frequently asked questions define a significant tree under the Development Regulations 2008 as a trunk circumference of 2 metres or more, so the two sources differ. For a significant tree the guide says approval follows the Development Regulations 2008 and the local council. The CFS page says the CFS decides applications for fuel reduction beyond the exempt distances and may refer them to the Native Vegetation Council. The guide says strategic fuel reduction needs CFS approval and a notification to the Native Vegetation Council, and that a prescribed burn in the fire danger season needs a schedule 9 permit from the CFS.
The CFS page's frequently asked questions say that in most areas landowners can reduce, modify or remove vegetation within 20 metres of a prescribed building without approval from the CFS or the Native Vegetation Council, and the guide says the same for vegetation other than large trees between 10 metres and 20 metres of a dwelling. The CFS page also states a position on mature trees: those within 20 metres of a building, if maintained correctly, do not pose a significant fire risk to it. The State Bushfire Coordination Committee guidelines for government agencies say the Native Vegetation Act 1991 allows firebreaks up to 5 metres wide through native vegetation without consent from the Native Vegetation Council, and requires an application to that council for a greater width unless another Act or regulation authorises it.
Who to call
- Country Fire Service regional office: applications to manage native vegetation for bushfire safety, per the CFS page
- Native Vegetation Council: clearing for new buildings and the activities the guide sends to it
Sources
- Country Fire Service South Australia, Native vegetation management, read October 9, 2026
- South Australian Government, Country Fire Service and Native Vegetation Council, Managing Native Vegetation: How to reduce the impact of bushfire (August 2020), read October 9, 2026
- Country Fire Service South Australia, Preparing your home and property, read October 9, 2026
- State Bushfire Coordination Committee, South Australian Firebreaks, Fire Access Track and Sign Standards Guidelines, version 4, February 2015, read October 9, 2026