The tree, on Djab wurrung land in western Victoria, is in the path of the next stage of the $675 million Western Highway upgrade between Ballarat and Stawell, the biggest regional road project in the state.

It was identified this month by members of Victoria's Indigenous community as a living example of a sacred birthing tree.

Three women have since submitted an application with Aboriginal Victoria to have the tree protected under heritage laws, in a last-ditch bid to stop it being cut down.

The tree is on a rural property in the Mount Langi Ghiran foothills near Buangor, on land that has recently been acquired by VicRoads.

It was scheduled to be removed, potentially within the next few weeks, because it stands in the works zone for stage 2B of the joint state and federally funded Western Highway duplication project. 

But the application, if successful, would force VicRoads to find an alternative route because the tree would be protected by law.

The tree has a girth of more than seven metres, is more than 30 metres tall and has been estimated to be up to 700 years old.

But it is what is inside it that might spare it from the bulldozer.

A hollow, big enough for an adult to stand inside, with evidence of scarring and burning by human hands, is what has triggered the claims that it is an Aboriginal birthing tree, a place women once visited to give birth, and which men are banned from seeing.

Indigenous woman Carmel Thannhauser saw the tree for the first time  this month, and was one of the three women who later lodged an application with the Ballarat office of the Aboriginal Heritage Register.

Ms Thannhauser said it was clear that the hollow had been crafted by human hands.

"I have no expertise, apart from feeling and understanding, however I just know that this tree is a birthing tree," she said.

Ted Lovett, an Aboriginal elder who lives in Ballarat, has backed the women's claim and said the tree must be saved.

"It shouldn't be touched, it's a sacred site, it's as simple as that," Mr Lovett said.

Birthing trees dot the Victorian landscape and are places of "women's business" to be avoided by men, Mr Lovett said.

A spokesperson for Aboriginal Victoria said it was investigating the report of a possible birthing tree.

If verified, the tree would be protected under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006.

The area in which it stands was assessed as part of a cultural heritage management plan completed in 2013, by Martang Inc., the Registered Aboriginal Party representing Djab wurrung traditional owners.

"The tree was not identified as being culturally significant," the spokesperson said.

VicRoads' acting director for the Western Highway project, Steve Pattinson, said the authority had been made aware of a request to protect a tree within the highway alignment.

"VicRoads can assure the public that we undertake a rigorous process, in consultation with Aboriginal Victoria and the Registered Aboriginal Parties to identify issues of cultural significance on all our projects across the state," Mr Pattinson said.

VicRoads' environmental approvals for the Western Highway upgrade have been fraught with problems.

Landowner MairiAnne Mackenzie, whose farm neighbours the property where the claimed birthing tree stands, has taken the authority to the Supreme Court to try to force it to alter the planned alignment of stage 2B between Buangor and Ararat.

VicRoads also admitted in 2015 that a surveying error led to the destruction of 900 large old trees to widen the highway between Beaufort and Buangor, after the project was approved on the basis that just 221 large old trees would be removed.