Tree touching power lines in South Australia, Australia: who is responsible
SA Power Networks, the electricity distributor for South Australia, publishes pages on its tree trimming program, the regulations it works under, and what a property owner does about vegetation on their own land. This page reports what those pages say.
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 distributor's own pages. Other Australian states and territories have their own regulators and rules, and none is covered here.
What the distributor says it does
The SA Power Networks page Tree trimming program says legislation requires the company to inspect and clear vegetation near its powerlines at intervals of no more than three years, in bushfire and non-bushfire risk areas. It says the legislation is governed by the Office of the Technical Regulator and that the company must comply. It says it works with local councils on keeping vegetation away from public powerlines, and that pruning aims to stop trees bending or growing into the legislated clearance zone. It lists five things that set the clearance zone: whether the vegetation is in a bushfire risk area, the voltage of the conductor, the span length, whether the line is insulated or bare, and whether it is on public or private land. It says that when trimming is to take place near a home, it gives 30 days' notice before accessing the property, except for emergency trimming.
The regulations
The same page says the Electricity (Principles of Vegetation Clearance) Regulations 2021 took effect from September 1, 2021. It lists these changes: the ability to remove saplings and woody weeds, extending the reduced pruning approach to other regional centres where risk is low, a more flexible Approved Species List, electronic forms of landowner notification, and a simpler process to review the bushfire and non-bushfire risk boundaries. It says that in 2010 the regulations for metropolitan Adelaide were amended to reflect the lower risk around low voltage powerlines, which allows vegetation to grow through low voltage lines in certain circumstances, and that changes for 10 towns across the state were introduced in 2019.
Owners and planting
The company page Responsibilities around tree trimming and planting says vegetation planted near powerlines on an owner's property has to meet the required clearance zones, and refers to its poster Managing trees around powerlines. It says it recommends a qualified professional prune vegetation on the property. It says legislation places restrictions on the type and location of trees planted under powerlines, and that a Powerline Friendly Planting List developed in 2018 was revoked in 2025 and is not to be used for planting decisions on council or private land. It names the Approved Species list on the Office of the Technical Regulator website as the only list it recognises for compliant plantings under powerlines.
Contact and timing
The first two pages give 13 12 61 for more information on the vegetation management program. The company's page Vegetation around powerlines points to an interactive map on its vegetation management portal that shows the indicative timing of planned inspections and trimming across the network.
Who to call
- SA Power Networks, 13 12 61: questions about the vegetation management program
- SA Power Networks, responsibilities around tree trimming and planting: owner responsibilities and the poster on clearance zones
- Office of the Technical Regulator: the regulator named on the company page, which also holds the Approved Species list
- Your local council: the company page says it works with councils on vegetation near public powerlines