National principles related to wood production in plantations

​​​​In accordance with the 1992 National Forest Policy Statement, in February 1995, the Ministerial Council on Forestry, Fisheries and Aquaculture, representing the states, territories and the Australian Government forestry authorities, prepared a statement of national principles to be applied in the management of plantations.

These principles set the framework for a consistent and scientific basis for sound plantation management to which all states and territories subscribe.

The principles are structured into several sections relating to different activities associated with plantation production, including establishment, management and harvesting. The principles apply to both public and private plantations.

Export controls in relation to plantation forestry codes of practice

Under the Export Control (Wood and Woodchips) Rules 2021 (the Wood Rules), wood sourced from a plantation does not need an export licence if it comes from a state or territory with an approved plantation forestry code of practice.

For a code of practice to be approved for the purposes of the Wood Rules, it must be scientifically assessed against the National Principles for Forest Practices Related to Wood Production in Plantations. The minister must also be satisfied that the code would satisfactorily protect environmental and heritage values having regard to the findings of the scientific assessment.

All states and territories have a code of practice that has been approved for the purposes of the Wood Rules.

Codes of practice assessments

In 2010, CSIRO was commissioned to undertake assessments of all state and territory plantation forestry codes of practice.

Following ministerial consideration of the eight reports prepared by CSIRO, plantation forestry codes of practice were approved for all states and territories. CSIRO had assessed a draft Queensland code and its comments were addressed in the final version of the code which was released in July 2015. Notices of approval were published in the Government Notices Gazette on 5 June 2013, 3 July 2013 and 17 March 2016.

In late 2024 and early 2025, ministers in Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory requested the approval of amended codes of practice for their states and territories. Greenwood Strategy Solutions was commissioned to carry out scientific assessments of the amended codes against the national principles.

Following ministerial consideration of the three reports prepared by Greenwood Strategy Solutions, the amended codes of practice were approved for Victoria, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

An instrument approving the amended codes of practice was published in the Federal Register of Legislation on 30 January 2026. Copies of the assessment reports are available below.

If you have difficulty accessing these files, contact us for help.

Inaccessible third-party content

The pdf and word documents listed above were not prepared by the department and may not meet Australian Government accessibility guidelines. If you require an accessible version of the publication, please contact its author.