Thousands of adult residents across Western Australia are currently eligible to receive a one-off $150 cash rebate through a state government environmental initiative designed to boost local native tree populations. Launched one year ago under the name “Treebate,” the incentive program is administered by the WA Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, and has already drawn more than 2,000 participants with two months remaining until its first anniversary.
The core premise of the program is simple: eligible residents 18 years and older can purchase a qualifying native tree from a local garden center or nursery, plant it on their residential property, and submit a rebate claim through the ServiceWA online platform to receive the full $150 purchase incentive. To qualify for the rebate, participants must meet three key requirements: select a native species that will grow to a minimum mature canopy height of 3 meters, provide clear photographic evidence of the tree labeled with its common or scientific name, and retain a tax invoice as official proof of purchase.
The $6.9 million four-year program was developed in direct response to a pressing ecological crisis in Perth, where more than 4,500 native trees have been killed in recent years by invasive shot-hole borer insects. To complement the residential Treebate scheme, the state government has also launched a second complementary initiative, the WA Tree Recovery Program, which offers landowners the same $150 rebate for every native tree they replace after it was lost to the shot-hole borer infestation.
WA Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn emphasized the far-reaching value of expanding the state’s native tree cover, noting that every new tree planted across Perth and broader Western Australia delivers cascading social, economic, and environmental benefits that lift up the entire community. With more than $4 million in remaining funding allocated for the program, thousands more eligible residents are still able to claim the rebate before the program’s allocated funds are exhausted.