About

What this website is

A plain statement of what this site is, who stands behind it, where the information comes from and what it deliberately leaves out.

General information, not legal advice. This page sets out how the law generally applies. It does not take account of your circumstances, and you should get advice about your own situation before acting on it. The official sources this page is written from are listed on it; where they differ from anything here, they are the authority.

Last updated: 23 September 2026

There is a great deal of legal information online about fences and trees, and much of it does not say who wrote it or where it came from. This page says. It is deliberately short on adjectives, because the things worth knowing here are checkable facts rather than claims.

Neighbour Dispute Lawyers is an informational website about neighbour and boundary disputes in New South Wales. Legal services offered through this website are provided by Jameson Law.

What the site covers

Disputes between people who share a boundary in New South Wales, and the particular Acts and forums that deal with each kind. It is not a general legal site and it does not try to be.

Dividing fences — who pays, what a sufficient fence is, and the fencing notice
Trees and branches — damage, risk of injury, and hedges blocking sunlight or a view
Boundaries and encroachment — where the line runs and what happens when something crosses it
Retaining walls — the dispute with the least tidy answer in this area
Noise and nuisance — interference with the use and enjoyment of your home
Easements and access — rights of way, drainage, and getting onto a neighbour's land
Strata neighbours — by-laws, the mediation step, and NCAT
Animals — barking dogs and other animal problems, which are usually a council matter

Where the information comes from

Every page that states a rule lists the official sources it was written from, and those sources are New South Wales legislation, the courts and tribunals that decide these matters, and the government agencies that administer them. Nothing here is sourced from another law firm’s website, and nothing here is sourced from a commercial summary.

That is not fussiness. Neighbour law in this State is spread across several Acts and several forums, and the material that circulates about it goes out of date quietly. One example is on this site: the advice to ring a Community Justice Centre for free mediation of a neighbour dispute was standard for years, and the Department of Communities and Justice now states that from 1 July 2025 that service is no longer available for disputes other than those referred by NSW Courts or involving incorporated associations. A page that repeated the old advice would read exactly like a page that was right.

Where a source and a page here disagree, the source is right. We would rather be told than leave it.

What this site deliberately does not publish

The absences are on purpose, and each one has a reason.

No fees or hourly rates. What a neighbour dispute costs depends on what it is about and whether it settles. A number here would not tell you anything useful about your own matter, and it would go stale.
No outcomes, success rates or case studies. These matters turn on particular facts about particular land. Somebody else's result tells you nothing about yours, and a figure nobody can audit is not information.
No reviews, awards or rankings. None appear here because none are published here.
No penalties or dollar amounts, unless they were checked. Many figures in this area are indexed and move. Where a page needs one, it describes the mechanism and links you to the source that carries the current number.
No promises. No guarantee of an outcome, and no suggestion that any dispute has a predictable ending.

If you find something on this site that reads like a claim we could not support, that is a defect. Tell us and it will be corrected.

Who provides the legal services

Legal services offered through this website are provided by Jameson Law. This website is not a separate practice and does not hold itself out as one.

Advice is given by Australian legal practitioners. You can check any solicitor’s practising certificate yourself on the Law Society of New South Wales register of solicitors, and you do not need anyone’s permission to look.

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. A scheme of that kind is created by statute and limits the occupational liability of participating solicitors for the legal services they provide, where the solicitor meets the requirements of the scheme instrument.

If something goes wrong, there is an independent path that does not depend on anyone’s goodwill: the Office of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner. Our complaints page sets out how to use it.

What this site is not

It is not legal advice. Nothing on it takes account of your circumstances, and a page cannot know where your boundary runs, what your council’s rules say about that particular tree, or what has already passed between you and the person next door.

It is also not a substitute for the official sources. Each page points at them because they are the authority and this site is not. Our terms of use set that out formally, and how we work explains what an engagement actually involves.

How to reach us

Use the enquiry form on the contact page. Keep a first message short: what the dispute is about, who it is with, and any date that may be running.

Enquiries

Through the form on our contact page.

Who you are contacting

Neighbour Dispute Lawyers is an informational website about neighbour and boundary disputes in New South Wales. Legal services are provided by Jameson Law.

Professional standards

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.