Victoria's 10/30 and 10/50 clearing rules: when the planning scheme exempts clearing near a house
The Country Fire Authority and the Victorian planning department set out when clearing trees and other vegetation near a house, and along a boundary fence, is exempt from a planning permit in Victoria: the 10 metre, 30 metre and 50 metre distances, the 10 September 2009 date and the 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 the Country Fire Authority (CFA) page on removing vegetation, last updated October 1, 2026 on the CFA site, a planning department fact sheet dated August 2020 about clause 52.12 of the Victoria Planning Provisions, and two CFA news items from 2015 and 2016. It covers Victoria, Australia only. The rule for power line operators is a different one, set out in the guide to wildfire plans and tree clearing in Victoria.
The distances
The CFA page and the fact sheet agree on the three distances, and both call the exemptions the 10/30 and 10/50 rules. The fact sheet says clause 52.12 exists to support protection of life and property from bushfire around buildings and along fence lines, and that it was developed after the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.
| Rule | Where the source says it applies | What it exempts from a permit |
|---|---|---|
| 10 metre rule | A bushfire prone area under the Building Act 1993, including the Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO) | Any vegetation, trees included, within 10 metres of an existing building |
| 30 metre rule | A bushfire prone area under the Building Act 1993 | Vegetation other than trees within 30 metres of an existing building |
| 50 metre rule | The Bushfire Management Overlay | Vegetation other than trees within 50 metres of an existing building |
| Fence line rule | A boundary fence in a bushfire prone area, built before September 10, 2009 | Any vegetation along a fence between properties in different ownership, up to 4 metres combined width across both sides |
The fact sheet defines clearing as removal, destruction and lopping. It says the exemptions apply to native and non-native vegetation and override planning scheme requirements to get a permit to remove vegetation, including permit conditions that prohibit removal. It says they only apply to existing buildings and fences, not proposed ones.
Which buildings count
The source limits the rules by building and by date. The building must be used for accommodation, and the fact sheet lists dwellings, dependent persons units, group accommodation, bed and breakfasts, motels, rooming houses, retirement villages and aged care facilities among the uses. For the 10 and 30 metre rules the building was built or approved by a planning or building permit before September 10, 2009, or built to replace a dwelling damaged or destroyed in a bushfire between January 1 and March 31, 2009. For the 50 metre rule the fact sheet adds houses lawfully built without a planning permit before November 18, 2011, and houses approved before September 10, 2009 and built before that November date. The CFA page words that extension as buildings lawfully constructed or permitted between November 10, 2009 and November 10, 2011. It says a house built after September 10, 2009 will likely need a permit. The 2015 and 2016 CFA news items say the rules were introduced in 2011.
Fence lines and neighbours
The fence line rule counts clearing on both sides of the fence together. The fact sheet says where one side has already been cleared 4 metres or more, up to 1 metre can be cleared on the other side. The CFA page spells out the cases: if the neighbour cleared to 1 metre from the fence, up to 3 metres on the other side, if to 2 metres, up to 2 metres, and if to 4 metres or more, up to 1 metre. Both sources say clearing vegetation on neighbouring land needs the written permission of that landowner or land manager.
What the exemptions do not do
The fact sheet says the exemptions do not override a legal agreement or covenant that prohibits removing, destroying or lopping native vegetation, and that Shire of Yarra Ranges has its own clause 51.03 so not all the exemptions apply there. It says other fire prevention exemptions remain, such as for vegetation that poses an immediate risk or for emergency access. Where a building or fence falls only partly in a mapped area, it says the rule applies around the whole building perimeter. For a building or fence outside the dates it says a planning permit may be required. The CFA page adds that laws protecting native plants and animals can apply and that the local council is the office to check. The two CFA news items use the line "check before you clear". The CFA page says CFA does not recommend removing trees yourself and advises a qualified professional.
Who to call
- Your local council: local laws, native vegetation protection and whether a planning permit applies, per the CFA page
- Country Fire Authority: the CFA page on the 10/30 and 10/50 rules and the check tool it describes
- Victorian planning department (Vic Planning): the planning rules behind the exemptions and the map tool for bushfire prone areas and the Bushfire Management Overlay, as the CFA page links them
Sources
- Country Fire Authority, Removing vegetation: trees and other plants (page last updated October 1, 2026), read October 9, 2026
- Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Vegetation clearing exemptions: bushfire protection fact sheet, August 2020, read October 9, 2026
- CFA News, Clear up or clear out (published October 13, 2015), read October 9, 2026
- CFA News, So I can just get on with it, the 10/50 rule (published October 5, 2016), read October 9, 2026