Bushfire clearing rules in Tasmania: the planning scheme's vegetation exemptions, fire permits and council abatement notices

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It describes the Tasmania Fire Service pages and its Using Fire Outdoors guide, the State Planning Provisions version 18 that took effect on October 9, 2026, the Fire Service Act 1979, the Local Government Act 1993 and the Forest Practices Authority's pages and exemption guidelines, all read on October 10, 2026. It covers Tasmania, Australia only. The rules for power line operators are in the guide to trees touching power lines in Tasmania.

Who the Fire Service says is responsible

The Tasmania Fire Service page on responsibility says all property owners, occupiers and land managers, public and private, are responsible for reducing fire hazards on the property they own or manage. It describes fire risks as flammable materials or buildings in a dangerous condition or arrangement, and dangerous behaviours or actions, and says hazards must not be allowed to become risks. It says councils may issue abatement notices under the Local Government Act 1993 and may do the work and recover the cost if a notice is ignored. It also says the Fire Service, under the Fire Service Act 1979, may serve a notice on an owner or occupier anywhere in the State, serve a notice on a council, or remove a hazard itself and recover the cost.

What the Fire Service Act says

Section 48 lets the Commission, by notice, require an owner or occupier to take steps to prevent fire or reduce its risk, with a fine not exceeding 26 penalty units for not complying. Section 49 lets the Commission or an authorised officer require an occupier, by written notice, to trim, cut back or remove a hedge, or to burn off or remove vegetation, rubbish or other matter that is or would become a fire danger. The owner of unoccupied land is treated as the occupier. Not complying carries a fine not exceeding 26 penalty units. If a notice is refused or ignored, members of the Fire Service may enter and remove the danger, and the cost is a debt to the Commission. Section 49 also lets the Commission require a council, on not less than 30 days' notice, to deal with a fire danger as if it were a nuisance under the Local Government Act 1993. The Act does not print a dollar value for a penalty unit.

What the Local Government Act says

Section 199 defines nuisance to include anything that is or is likely to be a fire risk. Under section 200, a council that is satisfied a nuisance exists serves an abatement notice on the person whose act or default causes it or, if that person cannot be found, on the owner or occupier. The notice sets out the nuisance, the action reasonably necessary, the period for it and who is responsible. Not complying is a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units unless the person appeals. The appeal goes to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal within 14 days, on the grounds that no nuisance exists, the action is unreasonable or the period is unreasonable. Section 201 lets the council abate the nuisance itself where there is immediate danger, the cause cannot be found or a notice was not complied with. The cost becomes a charge on the land, recoverable like rates. Section 202 gives 30 days to appeal the council's own action.

The planning scheme's vegetation exemptions

Table 4.4 of the State Planning Provisions lists vegetation work that is exempt from the planning scheme. Clause 4.4.1 covers removal for safety or in accordance with other Acts, and its parts (a) to (h) are summarised below. The Bushfire-Prone Areas Code, C13, is about subdivision and vulnerable or hazardous uses in bushfire-prone areas, not about removing trees; it defines a hazard management area as the area between a habitable building and bushfire-prone vegetation that is kept in a minimal fuel condition.

Clause 4.4.1	What the exemption covers	Limit the clause prints
(a), (b)	Timber harvesting or tree clearing under a certified forest practices plan, and clearing for electricity infrastructure under the Forest Practices Regulations 2017	(a) not for constructing a building
(c)	Fire hazard management under a bushfire hazard management plan approved as part of a use or development	Plan approved with the use or development
(d)	Fire hazard reduction required under the Fire Service Act 1979 or an abatement notice under the Local Government Act 1993	Required by the Act or notice
(e)	Works to protect existing assets and ensure public safety under a plan endorsed by the Tasmania Fire Service, Sustainable Timbers Tasmania, the Parks and Wildlife Service or a council	Plan must be endorsed
(f)	Clearance for maintenance, repair and protection of lawfully constructed buildings and infrastructure	Within 2 metres
(g)	Safety work: dead wood, treatment of disease, an unacceptable risk to public or private safety, or vegetation causing or threatening damage to a substantial structure or building	Work must be required for those reasons
(h)	Erecting or maintaining a boundary fence	Within 1.5 metres of a lot boundary, or 3 metres in the Rural Zone and Agriculture Zone

Clause 4.4.2 separately exempts landscaping and vegetation management in a private garden, public garden or park, or reserve, where the vegetation is not protected by legislation, a permit condition, a section 71 agreement or a covenant, and is not listed as a local heritage place or significant tree in the Local Provisions Schedule. Clause 4.4.3 exempts vegetation rehabilitation works such as weed removal under a council-approved plan.

Forest practices plans and their exemptions

The Forest Practices Authority's Clearing land page says a landowner clearing native vegetation may need a "certified forest practices plan", and that the controls cover woody plants that are or could grow to five metres or more. It says most land clearing needs one. Its Forest practices plans page adds that local council approval may also be needed under the local planning scheme. Its exemption guidelines, version 2.2 of June 2021, summarise the Regulation 4 exemptions. Regulation 4(a) covers harvesting or clearing under 100 tonnes or under 1 hectare on land that is not vulnerable, with the landowner's consent. Regulation 4(b) covers a buffer for existing built infrastructure, where necessary for maintenance or public safety. The guidelines say the buffer for vehicle access is no wider than necessary, giving up to 5 metres on one side of a fence as an example, and that clearing for falling trees is limited to overhanging trees likely to shed limbs and damaged or unstable trees likely to fall over the fence. They say planned burning and firebreaks are not exempt where they clear vegetation for a change of land use. The guidelines carry their own disclaimer that they cannot be relied on to meet legal obligations.

Burning cleared vegetation

Section 61 of the Fire Service Act lets the Commission, with the Minister's approval, declare a fire permit period for the State or parts of it. Section 63 bars lighting a fire in the open to clear vegetation in that period unless reasonable precautions are taken to stop it spreading, with a fine not exceeding 26 penalty units. Section 66 requires a permit from a fire permit officer for a fire to clear vegetation, and the officer must refuse it where the fire might spread off the land. Section 71 bars outdoor fires on a day of total fire ban, with a fine not exceeding 200 penalty units, and section 70 says permits then cease to have effect.

The Tasmania Fire Service rules page says that in a fire permit period a fire to burn off cleared branches or other vegetation needs no permit only if it is no larger than one cubic metre, has a cleared area of three metres around and above it, is registered through myServiceTas or on 1800 000 699, is supervised and is put out completely. A larger fire needs a Fire Permit. The Using Fire Outdoors guide says fire permit periods are usually in force from September to April and that permits are free. On a Total Fire Ban day the rules page lists burning off as not allowed.

Who to call

Tasmania Fire Service: fire permits and burn registrations, and notices about fire hazards under the Fire Service Act 1979
Your local council: abatement notices for fire risks under the Local Government Act 1993, per the Fire Service page
Forest Practices Authority: whether a certified forest practices plan is needed to clear native vegetation, per its Clearing land page