Wildfire plans and tree clearing in South Australia: the Principles of Vegetation Clearance Regulations and SA Power Networks
What South Australia's Electricity (Principles of Vegetation Clearance) Regulations 2021 set for clearance zones and buffer zones, what the state government page says about bushfire risk areas, and how SA Power Networks describes its trimming cycles and notices.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 10, 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 restates four pages as read on October 10, 2026: the South Australian Legislation page for the Electricity (Principles of Vegetation Clearance) Regulations 2021, the SA.GOV.AU page Safe clearances distances between vegetation and powerlines (last updated November 26, 2025, provided by the Department for Energy and Mining), and the Tree trimming program and Bushfire safety pages of SA Power Networks. The side by side with other regions is on the guide to utility wildfire plans and tree clearing.
The regulations
The South Australian Legislation site lists the Electricity (Principles of Vegetation Clearance) Regulations 2021 as made under the Electricity Act 1996, with a date of expiry of September 1, 2032. SA Power Networks says the regulations took effect on September 1, 2021 and that the oversight body is the Office of the Technical Regulator. It lists the main changes as the ability to remove saplings and woody weeds, reduced pruning extended to other regional centres where risk is low, an Approved Species List made more flexible, electronic notification of landowners and a simpler process to review the bushfire and non bushfire risk boundaries. It also says legislation requires it to inspect and clear vegetation near powerlines at least every three years, in bushfire and non bushfire risk areas alike.
Clearance zones and buffer zones
The state government page says trees and vegetation must by law be kept a safe distance from power lines, and that larger clearances apply in a bushfire risk area. The size of a clearance zone depends on whether the line is in a bushfire risk area, the voltage and type of line, whether the conductor is bare or insulated, the span between poles and the distance of the vegetation from the nearest pole.
| Item | What the page states |
|---|---|
| Insulated cables | Fully insulated lines such as aerial bundled cable always have a clearance zone of 10 cm |
| Low voltage bare wire | A 10 cm clearance zone |
| High voltage bare wire | Longer clearances in the two middle sections of each span; the page's Table 1 gives vertical and horizontal distances by voltage and span length, for example 1.5 m vertical and 1.5 m horizontal for 7.6 kV to 11 kV in a span of 0 to 50 m |
| Buffer zone on private land | 2 m beyond the clearance zone for distribution lines and 3 m for transmission lines |
| Buffer zone on public land | No legal buffer zone outside a bushfire risk area |
| Planting distances from the centre line | 6.0 m for all other voltages, 6.5 m for 66 kV, 15.0 m for 132 kV and 10.0 m for single pole 132 kV lines |
| Notice | SA Power Networks gives the occupier or owner 30 days' notice of clearing on private property, except in an emergency; a written objection to the Office of the Technical Regulator can be lodged within 21 days of the notice |
The page adds that the person living at a property, tenants included, must keep clearance zones free of vegetation they planted around their private supply lines, and that the network operator can clear the vegetation and charge the cost if the zones are not maintained. Trees with a mature height of 2 m or less are exempt from the planting restrictions. For a bare powerline in a bushfire risk area it describes a buffer zone drawn with slanted lines at 45 degrees up to a horizontal line 5 m above the top of the pole.
SA Power Networks' program
SA Power Networks says its trimming comes round every one to three years in bushfire risk areas, depending on risk, and every three years in non bushfire risk areas. It says the legislated clearance zone depends on the bushfire risk area, voltage, span length, whether lines are insulated or bare, and whether they are on public or private land, and that it works with councils for public powerlines. On its bushfire safety page it lists managing vegetation and keeping trees clear of powerlines, pole and wire inspections in bushfire-risk areas, equipment upgrades, work with the Country Fire Service and State Emergency Service, and bushfire protection settings applied on high-risk fire days. It says the Powerline Friendly Planting List was revoked in 2025 and that the Approved Species list on the Office of the Technical Regulator's site is the only list recognised for compliant plantings under powerlines.
Sources
- South Australian Legislation, Electricity (Principles of Vegetation Clearance) Regulations 2021 (legislation page), read October 10, 2026
- Government of South Australia, Department for Energy and Mining, Safe clearances distances between vegetation and powerlines (SA.GOV.AU, CC BY 4.0), read October 10, 2026
- SA Power Networks, Tree trimming program, read October 10, 2026
- SA Power Networks, Bushfire safety, read October 10, 2026