Public land, Crown land, state forests and national parks

Activities on some public and Crown lands

A number of activities are prohibited under the Forests Act 1958(Vic) (the Forests Act) on protected public lands, and all lands within 1.5km of reserved forests, unoccupied Crown land that is a protected forest, any national park or protected public lands. These lands are also called ‘fire-protected areas’. However, these areas do not include state forests or national parks. It is illegal for you to do any of the following in fire protected areas:

light or maintain any fire in the open air during a prohibited period, without the necessary authority or direction from an authorised officer;
light, maintain or extinguish any fire in the open air at any time that fails to comply with relevant regulations;
fail to observe, at any time, all reasonable precautions to prevent the spread of and damage by any fire lit or maintained by you, your agent or employee; or
carry out point 3 without taking all reasonable precautions to prevent the fire spreading or causing injury.

The penalty for the above offence is a fine of approximately $5000 or 1 year's imprisonment, or both.

When an acute fire danger exists, all fires in open areas may be prohibited, and all permits may be suspended. Failure to follow this absolute fire prohibition may result in a fine of up to approximately $1000 and/or a prison sentence of up to 2 years.

It is an offence to cause a fire, including attempting to cause a fire, with the intent to damage forest produce, timber resources or property by placing a match, inflammable material or combustible substances in such a position that a fire is likely to be caused (including from the sun’s rays, friction or any other means). The offence carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment for 10 years.

Lighting fires in state forests or national parks

It is illegal to do any of the following in a state forest or national park in Victoria (Forests Act 1958 (Vic)):

light or maintain any fire in the open air without the necessary authority or direction from an authorised officer;
light, maintain or extinguish any fire in the open air at any time that fails to comply with relevant regulations;
fail to observe, at any time, all reasonable precautions to prevent the spread of and damage by any fire lit or maintained by you, your agent or employee; or
leave any fire lit or maintained by you, your agent or employee without taking all reasonable precautions to prevent it spreading or causing injury.

The penalty for the above offence is $10 000 or two years prison, or both.

If your private land is within three kilometres of a state forest, national park or protected public land in Victoria, you must, if directed by an authorised officer or police officer, extinguish any fire on your land, or prevent it from spreading or causing injury. Failure to carry out to carry out such directions may result in a penalty of $5000 or one years imprisonment, or both (Forests Act 1958 (Vic)).

Duty to prevent spread of fire

The Forests Act imposes a duty on all persons who find a fire burning in any State forest, protected public land, national park or fire protected area to do everything reasonably within their power to prevent the fire from spreading. As soon as practicable, those persons must report the fire to the nearest authorised officer or member of the police force.

Where a fire is unlawfully burning in a fire protected area during a prohibited period, the occupier of the land has a duty to take all reasonable measures at his or her own expense to extinguish the fire. The landowner must report the fire to the nearest authorised officer or member of the police force as soon as is practicable.

All persons who hold leases, licences, permits or authorities under the Forests Act must inform the nearest authorised officer or police force member of the outbreak of a fire during a prohibited period in a fire protected

Enforcement of burning near state forests or national parks

Authorised officers may direct that fire hazards on any land within 1.5 kilometres of a state forest or national park be removed, destroyed or burnt. Fire prevention and control works may also be carried out on land adjoining and within 50 metres of state forests, protected public land or national parks. The authorities may carry out the works where landowners fail to comply with any directions and recover costs for the work from the landowner. Failure to comply with these directions also constitutes an offence under the Forests Act.