Advanced activity requirements for accessing private land
Before entering private land and starting advanced activities, resource authority holders must negotiate and discuss access and compensation issues with landholders.
We encourage resource authority holders to engage early with landowners to understand the potential risk and impacts of their proposed activities. Understanding this risk will help both parties:
- determine if the activity is considered preliminary or advanced
- ensure the correct entry procedures are followed.
Advanced activities
Advanced activities are those that have more than a minor impact on the landholder's land use activities or business activities. They can include:
- levelling of drilling pads and digging sumps
- earthworks associated with pipeline installation
- bulk sampling
- open trenching or costeaning with an excavator
- vegetation clear-felling
- constructing an exploration camp, concrete pad, sewage or water treatment facility or fuel dump
- geophysical surveying with physical clearing
- carrying out a seismic survey using explosives
- constructing a track or access road
- changing a fence line.
Is it a preliminary activity?
A preliminary activity is an activity that will have no impact or only a minor impact on the land use activities or business activities of a landholder or occupier of land.
However, a preliminary activity is considered an advanced activity if it either:
- affects the lawful carrying out of an organic or bioorganic farming system
- is undertaken on land of less than 100 hectares that's being used for
- intensive farming (dryland or irrigated cropping, plantation forestry or horticulture)
- broadacre agriculture (dairy, cattle or sheep feedlots, piggeries, or poultry farms).
If a proposed activity will have only a minor impact but meets the criteria above, follow the directions for advanced activities.
Examples
Any authorised activity on the property will be an advanced activity. The resource authority holder needs to negotiate with the landholder to establish a conduct and compensation agreement, or alternative agreement, as outlined in the A guide to land access in Queensland (PDF, 1.5MB).
Any authorised activity on this property will be an advanced activity. The resource authority holder needs to negotiate with the landholder to establish a conduct and compensation agreement or alternative agreement, as outlined in A guide to land access in Queensland (PDF, 1.5MB).
As the parcel, or lot on plan, is less than 100 hectares and it is used for intensive agriculture, it's considered an advanced activity. The resource authority holder needs to negotiate with the landholder to establish a conduct and compensation agreement or alternative agreement, as outlined in A guide to land access in Queensland (PDF, 1.5MB).
Who this applies to
The following requirements apply when resource companies enter private land within the area of their resource authority. It applies to all resource authority holders except holders of prospecting permits, mining claims or mining leases. This is because alternative land access requirements apply to prospecting permits and to mining claims and mining leases.
A special process applies to gain entry to private land outside the area of the resource authority and to restricted land around certain buildings, structures and areas.
Land access for advanced activities
Before a resource authority holder can enter private land to carry out advanced activities, they generally must have a legally binding agreement with the landholder. This can be one of:
- a conduct and compensation agreement
- a deferral agreement
- an opt-out agreement.
However, the resource authority holder can also enter private land to conduct advanced activities in cases where either:
- the resource authority holder and landholder cannot agree to the terms of a conduct and compensation agreement and the matter is referred to the Land Court for determination
- the parties have agreed to enter an arbitration process.
Entry notice requirements
Resource authority holders must provide landholders with an entry notice unless an exception applies. If there's a conduct or compensation agreement, deferral agreement, or opt-out agreement in place, an entry notice is not required.
Other land access requirements
Resource authority holders must comply with the mandatory conditions of the Land Access Code when carrying out authorised activities on a landholder's private land. These conditions cannot be altered or waived by agreement. All parties are encouraged to comply with the code's best practice recommendations.
Entry to restricted land around certain buildings, structures or areas requires the written consent of the landholder. This consent may be included as a term in an agreement.
Also consider...
- Find out about lodging land access notifications for coal and mineral activities and land access notifications for petroleum and gas activities.
- Download the Standard conduct and compensation agreement (DOCX, 123KB).
- Make an enquiry or complaint about land access.
- Read details about land access requirements in A guide to land access in Queensland (PDF, 1.5MB).
- Learn how the Land Access Ombudsman can help if there's a dispute over a finalised conduct and compensation agreement.