Skip Bins MelbourneThe permit tag

Field 03Councils

Skip bins in Yarra and Port Phillip

General information, not legal advice. Yarra City Council’s and the City of Port Phillip’s skip bin pages, linked at the foot of this page, have their current conditions and fees.

In both councils the skip company applies for the permit: Yarra takes applications only through skip bin companies registered with it, and Port Phillip only from registered skip bin suppliers. Yarra’s permit covers a legal parking bay; Port Phillip’s conditions put the skip in the parking lane and call for flashing lights at night on some roads.

Councils
Yarra, Port Phillip
Applies
A registered company
Read
9 October 2026
A skip at the kerb, with its corner marksA side view of a green skip bin standing on the road. A yellow strip in an upside-down L shape marks each top corner. A small tag drawn at the right-hand end is the site’s emblem for the permit.

Yarra City CouncilA parking bay, booked by the company

Yarra needs a skip bin permit for any skip placed on Council land. To get a skip delivered, its page says, you go to a skip bin company, and “The skip bin company will apply for the permit for you”, with the permit cost included in their fee. Every application is made online through a company registered with the council, and the council itself does not hire out skips.

Registration is a step of its own. A skip company not yet registered with Yarra sends the council an application form by email, and the council says to expect a response within 7 business days; only then can the company log in and apply for permits. If your hire company is not yet registered with Yarra, those 7 business days can matter.

Yarra’s skip bin permit

Where
A legal parking bay where access is not restricted
Never in
Clearway, no stopping, loading zone or disabled parking bays
Fees, as at 9 October 2026
$28.30 a day in an unmetered bay; $76.75 a day in a metered bay

The permit must be issued before the skip is placed. If the company’s documents are in order, the council says to expect a permit within 24 hours.

Yarra’s skip bin permit is for a legal parking bay. For a skip in a laneway, on the road or anywhere that restricts access, Yarra asks for a road or footpath occupation permit instead. On a narrow street or a lane, it is worth asking the hire company which of the two permits your spot needs.

Yarra also asks for skips to follow VicRoads’ guidelines for placing skips on roadsides, to keep them safely placed. Those guidelines are the VicRoads code of practice dated January 2001, set out in the code guide.

City of Port PhillipFrom the kerb to the far side of the road

Port Phillip accepts skip bin permit applications only from registered skip bin suppliers. Its page lists the current application fee and daily permit fee. Its conditions read like a walk across the road, from the frontage out to the far kerb:

  • Frontage. The skip stands within the street frontage of the site it is serving.
  • Lane. It goes in the parking lane, inside the parking bays where they are marked, and clear of footpaths, vehicle crossings, nature strips, landscaped areas, clearways and through traffic lanes.
  • Signs. Not where standing or parking is prohibited.
  • Passing room. At least 3 metres kept clear to the opposite kerb, laneways included, so vehicles can get through.
  • Sight lines. Nothing in the way of pedestrians, cyclists or vehicles, and no blocking of drivers’ view.
  • The code. The location must meet the requirements of the VicRoads code of practice, January 2001.

Seen at night

Port Phillip’s visibility conditions

Reflective marking goes on each top corner and at opposite ends of the skip, following Appendix 1 of the January 2001 VicRoads code. That appendix sets out yellow tape at least 50 mm wide, in an upside-down L near each top corner; the code guide draws it. Flashing yellow lights must also be fitted and working on the skip’s corners from sunset to sunrise if it stands:

  • on a main arterial road;
  • on a road with reduced visibility;
  • in a low-lit or unlit area; or
  • in a narrow street.

The skip must show the name and contact details of the skip bin company, and what is in it must not rot or give off offensive smells.

The permit holder must show evidence of $20 million public liability insurance if asked. Placing or removing the skip must not damage the council’s infrastructure or community assets, and the permit holder pays for any damage that does happen.

During building worksWhen a skip is one permit of several

Port Phillip notes that building works can need separate permits to use Council land. Alongside the skip bin permit, its list includes a street occupation or hoarding permit, a road closing permit, a work zone permit, an asset protection permit and an out of hours permit.

Side by sideWhere the two councils differ

Both councils put the application with a registered company, and neither offers a way for a householder to apply instead. Yarra describes the permit by the bay the skip sits in, and charges more for a metered one. Port Phillip describes it by distances and edges: the frontage, the parking lane, the 3 metres to the opposite kerb, and lights after dark on certain roads.

Kingston’s conditions use almost the same words as Port Phillip’s; they are in the south-east guide. For who applies in all ten councils, see who gets the permit.