Land Act 1994

Almost every Queensland landholder, lessee, trustee, mortgagee, surveyor, conveyancer, developer, local government and pastoralist is touched by this Act. Specifically: holders of leases, licences and permits over State land; trustees of reserves and deeds of grant in trust (including DOGIT trustees, cemetery trustees and trustees for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander purposes); registered native title bodies corporate, where surrender areas and indigenous land use agreements interact with the allocation powers (s 18A); mortgagees of registered mortgages of leases and deeds of grant; people erecting buildings or structures on leased State land or reserves; and, given the registry framework, anyone dealing with freehold land registered under the Land Title Act 1994 because that Act and this Act share registry machinery (see s 288C, effect of registration of mortgage under the Land Title Act 1994).

Tenure holders carry a duty of care condition (s 199), including a general obligation to use the land sustainably for its tenure purpose. Land must be used only for its tenure purpose (s 199A) unless the Minister approves additional or fewer purposes for a lease (s 154). Buildings and other structures are subject to s 199B conditions. Lessees may be required to control noxious plants (s 200) and provide information (s 201) and to undertake improvement works (s 202). Significant-development lessees must satisfy financial and managerial capability conditions (s 130A) and complete the development before further dealings (s 129A). Conditions can be mandatory (Division 1, set out in the Act), imposed at grant (Division 2, must be registered, s 202B), typical (s 203, examples given by the chief executive), or regulated by regulation (Division 3A). Conditions must be performed (s 213). Mortgagees of leases must give the chief executive 28 days' notice before exercising power of sale (Maximum penalty 5 penalty units in s 68 for default of trustee mortgages and the analogue for general mortgages). Original mortgagees must verify mortgagor identity and keep records for seven years (ss 288A and 288B, Maximum penalty 20 penalty units).

The Governor in Council may grant land in fee simple or lease (s 14). The Minister may lease land (s 15), buy land (s 19), reserve minerals or quarry materials (ss 21, 22), reserve land for a public purpose (s 23) and decide reservation boundaries (s 26). The chief executive evaluates tenure and may take account of planning instruments under the Planning Act, development instruments under the Economic Development Act 2012 in priority development areas, and Cape York agreement commitments (s 16). The chief executive may require remedial action by notice (s 214), reduce the term of a lease or impose additional conditions for non-compliance (s 214E), give a compliance notice to a permittee (s 214H), give safety notices over unsafe buildings or structures (s 403G, with a 7-day relevant period in s 403J), erect regulatory notices restricting activities on unallocated State land or relevant trust land (s 403K), and give regulatory information notices (s 403L). Authorised officers may give directions (s 403N), seize and restrict access to things (ss 390ZJ following), require personal details (s 390ZV), require document production or certification (ss 390ZX, 390ZY), and require help (s 390ZF). The State may take safety action and recover the reasonable costs as a debt (ss 403I and 403J). Forfeiture grounds are set out in Chapter 5 Part 4 (ss 234 onwards), with separate sub-divisions for forfeiture for non-payment (Division 2, ss 235 to 237), forfeiture by referral to court or for fraud (Division 2A, s 238) and sale of the lease instead of forfeiture (Division 3A, ss 240E to 240S). Resumption is governed by Chapter 5 Part 3, with the Acquisition of Land Act 1967 applied in ss 221 and 231.

Penalties throughout the Act are stated in penalty units. Headline maxima include: 400 penalty units for failing to comply with a remedial action notice (s 214D, an executive liability provision under s 431J); 400 penalty units for failing to comply with a compliance notice (s 214J); 400 penalty units for failing to comply with a safety notice (s 403H); 400 penalty units for contravening a regulatory notice (s 403K(2)); 400 penalty units for unlawful trespass on non-freehold or trust land (s 404, covering occupying, enclosing, building, clearing, depasturing stock); 400 penalty units for obstructing a relevant officer (s 440). Lower-tier penalties of 100 penalty units apply to interference with monitoring sites (s 252), false or misleading information given to an authorised officer (s 390ZZH), failure to comply with directions and help requirements (ss 390ZB, 390ZF) and stock route offences (s 432). Mortgage identity verification offences sit at 20 penalty units (ss 288A, 288B). Regulations can create offences with penalties capped at 100 penalty units (s 448). Section 290 makes it an offence not to use the appropriate form. Executive officer liability is imposed for s 214D contraventions through s 431J. The State may carry out work and recover costs (s 412).

Applications for tenures, conversions, extensions and amalgamations follow Chapter 4 with prescribed information and notice requirements; offers under Chapters 3 and 4 must be accepted within an offer period defined in ss 403Q to 403W. Show cause notices are governed by ss 403D to 403F. Internal review must precede any appeal (s 422). Original decisions may be reviewed by the Minister (s 423), with stay rules in s 425 and a reconsideration decision in s 426. Appeals lie to the Land Court for most decisions and to a Magistrates Court for investigation decisions defined in s 420J (decisions under ss 390ZG, 390ZH, 390ZO and 390ZP(1)). Appeals to the District Court on questions of law only are available from Magistrates Court orders (s 420). Safety notice non-compliance triggers a 7-day relevant period before forfeiture and cost recovery (s 403J). Mortgagees must give 28 days' notice before exercising power of sale over a mortgaged trust grant (s 68). Sublessees must be given a copy of an approved indigenous cultural interest agreement at least 28 days before sublease commencement (s 202AB).

The Act is heavily intertextual. It expressly preserves the operation of the Native Title (Queensland) Act 1993 (s 7) and the Native Title Act 1993 (Cwlth), and uses ILUA mechanics in s 18A for grants in consideration of native title surrender. Mining interests, geothermal tenures and greenhouse gas authorities are preserved through s 20 by reference to the Mineral Resources Act 1989, the Petroleum Act 1923, the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004, the Geothermal Energy Act 2010 and the Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009. Tidal and non-tidal boundary definitions defer to the Survey and Mapping Infrastructure Act 2003 Part 7 (s 8). Water rights are coordinated with the Water Act 2000 (ss 13A, 13AB, 13AC). Planning instruments under the Planning Act and development instruments under the Economic Development Act 2012 are part of tenure evaluation (s 16). The Acquisition of Land Act 1967 applies to lease and reservation resumptions (ss 221, 231). The Land Title Act 1994 shares registry consequences for registered mortgages (s 288C). Electronic conveyancing under the Electronic Conveyancing National Law (Queensland) is recognised through the registrar's approved forms (s 546).

Tidal boundaries are State-owned by operation of s 9, and that ownership is declared retrospective: any historical occupation, use, building or removal could not divest the State. So claims to accreted land below the high-water mark, or to gradual movements of high-water mark on the seaward side, fail at the threshold. Section 13 prevents leasing or sale of land seaward of a tidal boundary except by Act, except where reclamation under s 127 occurs. Mortgagees who fail the identity verification regime in ss 288A or 288B face criminal liability (20 penalty units) and seven-year record-keeping obligations even after the mortgage is transferred. Safety notice non-compliance allows the State to demolish and forfeit the offending building, with the lessee bearing the reasonable cost of demolition and disposal as a debt to the State (s 403J). Regulatory notices can criminalise activities on unallocated State land or trust land where the State is the trustee, including activities such as trail bike riding, with a 400 penalty-unit maximum (s 403K). Trespass on non-freehold land in any of the listed ways (occupying, enclosing, building, clearing, depasturing stock) is itself an offence under s 404, separately from any civil eviction action.

A grazier holding a rolling term lease over a Queensland pastoral property holds that lease subject to the Act's mandatory conditions (Chapter 5 Part 2 Division 1), is exposed to remedial action notices for non-compliance (s 214), and, on non-payment of rent, faces forfeiture for outstanding amounts under ss 235 to 237 unless the Minister reinstates after payment (s 237). Section 164 provides for rolling term leases of pastoral holdings. A trustee of a reserve dedicated for community use must adhere to the dedication purpose and may grant trustee leases or trustee permits in accordance with Chapter 3 Part 1 Division 7. A developer applying for a lease for significant development under s 129 must satisfy the financial and managerial capability tests (s 130A) and, on completion of the development, may obtain freehold or further dealings under s 129A. A mortgagee of a State lease must give the chief executive 28 days' notice before exercising power of sale over a mortgaged trust grant (s 68), verify the mortgagor's identity at first registration (s 288A), and keep records for seven years. A council closing a road temporarily under Chapter 3 Part 2 Division 3A must follow the road licence process; permanent closures sit in Division 4. Indigenous land use agreement parties surrendering native title rely on s 18A to convert that surrender into a grant or lease of unallocated State land.

Chapter 9 carries successive Parts (1 through 8) of transitional provisions for every amending Act since 1994, including post-Wolfe freeholding leases (Part 1B equivalents) and the conversions of miners homesteads (ss 494 to 502). Chapter 8 continues earlier reserves, trustees, deeds of grant in trust and pre-Wolfe and post-Wolfe leases, and supplies replacement documents for special perpetual mining purposes leases (s 503K). Schedule 3 holds Indigenous access and use agreements and Indigenous land use agreements; Schedule 6 holds the Act's dictionary.