Your neighbour is liable for half. Here's how that actually works.

The rules under the Fences Act, the 30-day notice, and who pays for what — including the parts most fencing companies get wrong or charge you for.

The basic rule

Under the Fences Act 1968 (Vic), a dividing fence is a shared cost. Adjoining owners contribute in equal proportions to a sufficient dividing fence.

"Sufficient" isn't a fixed standard — it takes account of the existing fence, how the land is used, privacy, and what the fences in your street already are. In south-east Melbourne that's usually 1.8m timber paling.

If you want better than sufficient — Colorbond, or 2.1m, or capped — you pay the difference, not your neighbour. Anyone who tells you "your neighbour pays half of whatever you pick" is overclaiming.

The process is a fencing notice

To claim your neighbour's half, you serve a Fencing Notice — the official Victorian government form setting out the fence, the line and the cost split. Your neighbour has 30 days from the day they receive it to respond.

If you disagree about the fence, the Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria is free, before anything goes near a court.

What happens if the 30 days runs out and they haven't agreed?

If your neighbour agrees, you build as proposed.

If they don't respond within 30 days, the fencing works can begin without their agreement. What you don't automatically get is their money — if they won't pay their half, that's recovered through the Magistrates' Court.

If you can't locate the owner at all, that's a different situation: you need a Magistrates' Court order before any work begins if you want them to contribute.

And where a fence is damaged or destroyed and needs urgent repair, you can do the works without notice or agreement.

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