Tree waste rules in Tasmania: backyard burning under the Smoke Regulations, prohibited waste and Fire Permit Periods
What the Environmental Management and Pollution Control (Smoke) Regulations 2019, EPA Tasmania and Tasmania Fire Service say about burning cut branches and vegetation, the 2,000 square metre threshold, the list of prohibited waste and the fines.
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 follows the Smoke Regulations 2019 on the Tasmanian Legislation site, the EPA Tasmania backyard burning page and the Tasmania Fire Service rules page. All dollar amounts are Australian dollars.
The Smoke Regulations, Part 4
According to Part 4 of the Smoke Regulations 2019, regulation 8 says a person must not burn prohibited waste unless it is otherwise lawful, with a fine of up to 50 penalty units. Regulation 9 says a person must not burn vegetation or vegetative waste in the open, or in an incinerator, on land with an area under 2,000 square metres unless four conditions are met. They are that all practicable means are used to prevent or minimise air pollution, that any valid permit under the Fire Service Act 1979 is followed, that any valid council by-law is followed, and that any valid environment protection notice is followed. The same fine of up to 50 penalty units applies.
Regulation 9 says the means of limiting air pollution include having regard to wind direction and speed, weather, how long the material will burn and how close any habitable building is. It also says to take reasonable measures to ensure only dry vegetation or vegetative waste suitable for burning is burnt.
What EPA Tasmania adds
On the EPA page on backyard burning, the agency says the rules apply across the whole State and cover piled-up or standing vegetation on urban and rural-residential blocks. It says forestry burning and government fuel hazard reduction burns are not included, and that a fire used to get rid of unwanted garden or other waste counts as backyard burning. It lists prohibited waste as including asbestos, tyres, coated wire, paint and chemical containers, rubber, painted and treated wood, plastic, oil, household waste, linen, foam rubber and polystyrene. It names unpainted, untreated, uncontaminated wood and vegetative waste among the solid fuels that can be burnt, and says burning is subject to the regulation 9 conditions.
The page says an infringement notice is 5 penalty units, AU$1,065 in 2026-27, and the maximum court penalty is 50 penalty units, AU$10,650 in 2026-27. It says penalty units are adjusted every year with the CPI. It adds that council by-laws may restrict backyard burning, that section 53 of the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 bars causing an environmental nuisance, and that on a typical suburban block composting, chipping and offsite disposal are named as other options.
Fire Permit Periods and Total Fire Bans
The Tasmania Fire Service says on its rules page that a Fire Permit Period can be declared for a council area, a region or the whole State in times of higher bushfire risk, and a Total Fire Ban for the same areas, usually for 24 hours. For burning off grass, weeds, raked leaves and cleared tree branches in a Fire Permit Period, it lists a fire of no more than one cubic metre, a cleared area of at least three metres all round, registration with the Service online or by phone, and someone supervising. A larger fire needs a Fire Permit from the Service. On a Total Fire Ban day the page answers no to burning off. The EPA page says a fire lit under a Fire Service Act permit is exempt from the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act, and that the Fire Permit rule applies only while a Fire Permit Period is in force.
For other places see the table on tree waste and chip rules. A mainland state is on the South Australia page.