This version of Practical Reforms for Building in Bushfire Designated Areas Information Sheet has been
prepared for use with screen reader software. The printed publication contains design features that have been
necessarily omitted from this version. In other respects this document contains identical text to that in the PDF
version of the document which is available at www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/planning .
INFORMATION SHEET
Practical Reforms for Building in Bushfire Designated Areas
September 2014
Changes to Victoria’s bushfire planning regulations give greater certainty to residents and landowners in
bushfire designated areas across Victoria.
The changes help Victorians address the challenges of living in areas of bushfire risk and make it easier for
many landowners to develop their land, clear vegetation, and use bushfire defences tailored to their property.
These reforms provide sensible alternative planning measures and regulations to be considered, which may
enable people to reduce their defendable space and build to a lower Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) rating.
The reforms introduce new procedures of fairness to the bushfire planning regulatory system.
Landowners now have greater flexibility when building a new home or an extension to an existing home, in
addition to clearing vegetation to create defendable space.
To find out if your land is in a Bushfire Management Overlay and one of the applicable zones, go to
www.land.vic.gov.au where you can obtain a property report for a specific address, view an interactive map for
the whole of Victoria, or view maps for each local government area. Alternatively, visit the offices of your local
council.
Key reforms
Changing building standards in bushfire risk areas
Landowners will have more opportunity and greater certainty to build, replace or extend a dwelling in a
bushfire risk area where the land is in a Neighbourhood Residential Zone, General Residential Zone,
Residential Growth Zone, Urban Growth Zone, Low Density Residential Zone, Township Zone or Rural Living
Zone.
The assessment of the applicable Bushfire Attack Level is now consistent with the Australian Standard
AS3959-2009 Construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas.
In addition, more extensive permit exemptions make it easier to get a permit to build a shed or other
outbuilding.
Vegetation clearance and defendable space for new homes
A cleared area of vegetation creates a defendable space between a home and a potential fire.
Landowners in a Neighbourhood Residential Zone, General Residential Zone, Residential Growth Zone,
Urban Growth Zone, Low Density Residential Zone, Township Zone, Rural Living Zone, Rural Activity Zone
and Farming Zone can now choose how much defendable space to provide. Creating this defendable space
does not require a separate planning permit or a requirement to pay for a vegetation removal offset.
Neighbouring land can now be included as defendable space, where there is reasonable assurance that the
land will be appropriately managed.
Vegetation clearance and defendable space for existing homes
The ‘10/50’ rule continues to apply to existing properties in a Bushfire Management Overlay enabling the
removal, destruction or lopping of any vegetation to create defendable space without a planning permit.
The ‘10/50’ rule allows clearing of all vegetation within 10 metres of an existing house and vegetation other
than trees within 50 metres of the house.
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Private bushfire shelters
A private bushfire shelter can now be included by landowners as part of their bushfire protection measures.
Landowners will be able to build a dwelling at a lower Bushfire Attack Level if the property has an appropriate
private bushfire shelter.
If a bushfire shelter is used the landowner must enter into a section 173 Planning and Environment Act 1987
agreement, which will be recorded in the Register of Land. The shelter must be available for use at all times by
the occupant or landowner.
There is a national performance standard under the Building Code of Australia for the design and construction
of private bushfire shelters. The standard includes criteria such as a minimum distance of six metres between
the shelter and other structures and a minimum occupation time of 60 minutes.
A more efficient permit process
A more efficient permit process has been introduced to deliver faster permit decisions. A single permit process
now enables landowners in a Bushfire Management Overlay area to remove vegetation for defendable space
purposes.
Bushfire safety measures in new master-planned estates
Landowners in new master-planned estates, who are not next to a permanent bushfire hazard, will not need to
build to a higher bushfire construction standard under the Building Regulations, provided a bushfire protection
buffer is in place.
The new measures are in addition to the government’s current program to regularly update the Bushfire Prone
Area Map in areas where there is strong residential growth.
How can these changes work for you?
For example, to build a new home in a BAL 29 area, you might:
 meet the defendable space requirements, or
 build a bushfire shelter and reduce your construction requirements to BAL 19, or
 provide more than the minimum defendable space to reduce your construction requirements to BAL 19.
Assistance for landowners
A $700,000 Bushfire Planning Assistance Fund has been established to support individual planning permit
applicants and provide assistance to local councils to assess planning permit applications.
Individuals will be able to access specialist advice on planning permit issues in identified high risk areas.
Contact your nearest regional office:
Geelong Office: 5215 6044
Gippsland Region: 5172 2533
Loddon Mallee Region: 4433 8029
Warrnambool Office: 5564 8776
Hume Region: 5722 7119
Grampians Region: 5327 2842
Northern & Western Metropolitan Subregion: 9098 8909
Southern & Eastern Metropolitan Subregion: 9098 8923
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Bushfire Management Overlay?
The Bushfire Management Overlay is a planning scheme provision used to guide the development of land in
areas of high bushfire hazard. The location, design and construction of development and the implementation
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of bushfire protection measures, such as a dedicated water supply, must be considered where the Bushfire
Management Overlay applies.
The department’s website includes extensive information on the Bushfire Management Overlay. This includes
interactive guides to the vegetation management provisions in planning schemes and the bushfire protection
measures that need to be considered when developing land in a Bushfire Management Overlay area.
What if my property was affected by the 2009 bushfires?
Planning schemes include provisions which allow for rebuilding homes and communities that were impacted
by the 2009 bushfires. The Bushfire Management Overlay does not affect these provisions.
More information
Your local council can provide further information about the bushfire regulations in your area.
In addition, information is available at the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure website
at www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/planning
Authorised and published by Victorian Government, Department of Transport, Planning and Local
Infrastructure
1 Spring Street, Melbourne 3000
September 2014
ISBN 978-1-922250-36-0
© State of Victoria, Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure 2014.
Except for logos, emblems, trademarks, artwork and photography this document is made available under the
terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence.
This document is also available as a PDF at www.dtpli.vic.gov.au/planning
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