Your entitlements to compensation

Landholders are entitled to compensation under the Mineral Resources Act 1989 if a mining claim or mining lease covers the surface of their land, or if their land is used to access either of these tenures.

The term 'landholders' includes:

• owners of freehold land
• Land Act 1994 lessees (e.g. holders of pastoral and other leases on state land)
• trustees of resources reserves, Aboriginal land and Torres Strait Islander land
• the Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals for Land Act 1994 reserves
• lessees under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Land Holding Act 2013.

For the full list, see the 'owner' definition in schedule 2 of the Mineral Resources Act.

Landholder compensation entitlements

You are entitled to compensation for:

• the loss you suffer because you can no longer use the surface of your land
• any loss of value to the land or the improvements
• any loss from your use of your land or the improvements on it being diminished
• any loss caused because one part of your land is separated from the rest of your land
• any direct losses or expenses that arise because of the grant or renewal of the mining claim or lease
• the likely costs of moving yourself and your possessions (including livestock), if you need to move grazing or farming operations onto another part of your land or onto replacement land you buy
• any special value as a result of the current status and use of the land
• loss of profits.

You're also entitled to an additional 10% on top of the compensation amount because it's compulsory for you to participate in the process.

Sections 85(5) and (6) of the Mineral Resources Act outline the criteria for compensation for a mining claim and s281(3) and (4) of the Act give the criteria for mining leases.

Neighbouring properties

If your land neighbours a mining claim or mining lease, you are not entitled to compensation under the Mineral Resources Act.

Similarly, if your land neighbours mining exploration activities or gas exploration or production activities, you are not entitled to compensation for the conduct of these activities under the land access framework. This is because your land is not being accessed by the resource authority holder.

However, you are protected from environmental nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 in the same way that landholders with resources activities on their land are. This includes environmental nuisance issues that result from emissions of noise, dust, odour, light or smoke.

Additionally, resource activities occurring on certain tenures (authority to prospect, petroleum leases, mineral development licences and mining leases) that have an impact on water bores are required to be 'made good' by the resource tenure holder. Find out more information about make good agreements.