Where billboards may stand
The places each rulebook keeps a billboard out of, and the heights a sign may stand. Each line belongs to one place only: NSW’s transport corridor guidelines, Victoria’s planning provisions, and Brisbane City Council’s device rules.
General information, not planning or legal advice.Height
The rule beside the faces draws three heights at the lineup’s own scale. In NSW, on a bridge over a road, an advertisement must not extend below the soffit of the superstructure unless the vertical clearance to the base of the advertisement from the roadway is at least 5.8 m. In NSW, an advertisement with a display area greater than 20 m², or higher than 8 m above the ground, is in the concurrence class when it is within 250 m of and visible from a classified road. In Brisbane, the maximum height of any part of a billboard sign above the ground is 12 m.
Where a billboard may not stand
The table sets the "not here" rules of the three rulebooks side by side. Each line belongs to one rulebook only. Where a cell reads "not covered here", this guide holds no rule of that kind from that rulebook. That does not mean none exists. Nothing in the table is a national rule.
| Rule | NSW | Victoria | Brisbane |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open space and similar zones | Not covered here | Not covered here | Not covered here |
| Heritage buildings and places | The guidelines’ criteria for wall advertisements say one must not be placed on heritage buildings or other heritage items, railway stations aside. Under the state heritage standard exemptions, replacement signage must not exceed the size of the original sign area and must stay in the same location, and signage must not be internally illuminated or flashing. | Works at a state-listed heritage place need Heritage Victoria’s approval unless they are covered by exemptions specific to the place: works not covered by an exemption that will not harm its heritage significance can apply for a permit exemption, and works likely to harm it need a permit. A planning permit may also be required alongside the heritage one; general exemptions allow certain works without Heritage Victoria approval. | An advertising device on a heritage place needs approval even where it is permitted in its advertising environment, and a site on the Queensland Heritage Register needs a Heritage Exemption Certificate submitted with the application. |
| One structure per sightline | In rural areas, and along freeways and tollways, no more than one advertising structure should be visible along a given sightline, and an advertising structure should not be placed where it would result in visual clutter, particularly around other signage such as directional or road safety signs. | Not covered here | Not covered here |
| Distance from a neighbour’s boundary | Not covered here | Not covered here | A billboard sign must be a minimum of 3 m from the boundary of an adjoining property, unless the adjoining owner consents to a lesser distance. |
| Distance from a residential zone | Not covered here | Under the VicSmart criteria a sign must not be within 30 metres of land in a residential zone, a road aside, and in Category 1 commercial areas, an internally illuminated sign needs no permit only if, among other conditions, it is more than 30 m from a residential zone or from pedestrian or traffic lights. | Not covered here |
In Victoria, one further line is a matter of weight rather than a bar. The planning scheme's decision guidelines say that, when determining the effect of a proposed major promotion sign, locational principles must be taken into account, and major promotion signs are discouraged where they will form a dominant visual element from residential areas, within a heritage place, or where they will obstruct significant viewlines.
Who to ask
In NSW, ask the local council, the consent authority except for the cases in section 1.3.3, and Transport for NSW where the size or height triggers concurrence. In Victoria, the planning scheme’s zone and category controls decide whether a permit is needed for the site, and some overlays require a permit even for Section 1 signs. In Brisbane, an advertising device approval comes from the Council, and a building certifier can say whether building approval is also needed.