Natural Gas Authority Act 1967

The Act directly affects four main classes of persons.

Pipeline owners and operators are the primary beneficiaries. Ownership of a designated pipeline carries with it the statutory easement (s 9(4)). The owner need not be the operator; the Petroleum Act 1940 s 80D(7) requires the operator to be a body corporate, but the easement rights can be delegated to an agent or operator (note to s 11(1)). Joint-venture participants are jointly and severally liable for obligations under the Act and may nominate a representative for notices (s 31).

Landowners and occupiers of servient land and outlying land bear the burden of the easement. “Owner” is defined broadly to include Crown, fee-simple owners, lessees, licensees and persons entitled under agreements to purchase (s 15A(14)). Occupiers include anyone with a right to occupy or conduct operations on the land, but exclude mortgagees in possession unless they assume active management. These parties must give 21 days’ notice of prescribed works (s 15A(2)) and may face penalties for non-compliance. They are entitled to compensation only in narrowly defined circumstances (s 11(5)).

The Minister (currently the Treasurer for sale-related functions and the Minister responsible for the Act for other functions) holds extensive discretionary powers: varying boundaries during the adjustment period (s 10(4)), approving partial surrenders or subsumptions of easements (s 9), mediating disputes (s 15A(8)), qualifying rights (s 29), granting pipeline leases (s 26), and delegating functions under s 15A (with strict anti-subdelegation rules). The Minister constitutes the Authority itself (s 6).

The Crown is affected in multiple capacities. The Authority holds property on behalf of the Crown (s 7). Dedications of Crown land are revoked to the extent they overlap servient land (s 12(4)). Pipeline leases can resume portions of existing Crown tenements without compensation (s 26(5)), although the Minister may exclude land from this effect. Native title is expressly preserved (s 28(1)).

Finally, former staff of the Authority and the Superannuation Board are affected by the transitional provisions in Schedule 1. Transferring employees retain continuity of service, leave accruals and modified superannuation rights. The Superannuation Board must process elections within strict one-month windows and apply CPI-adjusted formulas that depart from the standard Superannuation Act 1988 calculations.

Indirectly, the Act affects gas consumers (through supply continuity) and Aboriginal persons whose native title or pre-existing rights of access are preserved (s 28(2)).

Pipeline owners enjoy a comprehensive bundle of rights under the statutory easement (s 11(1)). These include installing and operating pipelines and associated equipment, carrying out any “authorised purpose” (defined exhaustively in s 11(2) as installation, operation, inspection, maintenance, extension, alteration, repair, replacement or removal), and accessing servient land, outlying land and necessary passage land with vehicles and equipment at any time. Associated equipment installed remains the owner’s property even if affixed (s 11(1a)). Rights extend to taking water from natural sources (but not freehold land) for domestic purposes. Agents, contractors and employees may exercise these rights (s 11(4)).

Owners also have a right to receive notice of proposed prescribed works (s 15A(2)) and to object on safety or operational grounds (s 15A(5)). If the Minister mediates, the owner participates in that process. Upon sale, owners benefit from the statutory vesting and saving provisions that neutralise contractual and tortious claims (ss 16, 21).

Landowners and occupiers have rights to compensation for interference with outlying land or water-taking (s 11(5)), fixed by agreement or Magistrates Court. They retain public rights of way and certain preserved rights under Pipeline Licence No 2 (s 12(2)). Native title and Aboriginal rights of access are unaffected (s 28). They may apply to the Warden’s Court to revoke an objection to prescribed works or seek court-determined terms (s 15A(10)–(11)). The owner of servient land may request registration of dealings with a registered statutory easement with Ministerial consent (s 14(2)).

The Minister’s rights include varying easement boundaries retrospectively during the adjustment period (s 10(4)), approving surrenders or subsumptions (s 9), mediating disputes, qualifying extra-servient rights before the adjustment period ends (s 29), granting or varying pipeline leases (s 26), and issuing certificates for evidentiary purposes (s 20). The Minister may delegate s 15A powers but not further (s 15A(12)–(13)).

The Authority retains residual functions: buying and selling petroleum, conveying it, completing pre-commencement obligations, and incidental acts (s 8). It holds property on trust for the Crown (s 7) and enjoys immunity from damages for supply interruptions (s 33). After dissolution its powers are exercisable by the Minister (s 24(3)).

Joint venturers are jointly and severally liable (s 31(1)) but may channel notices through a nominated representative (s 31(2)–(4)).

The only offence-creating provision is s 15A(1): carrying out or permitting prescribed works on servient land without prior written consent of the pipeline owner carries a maximum penalty of $60 000. This is a Division 2 fine under the Acts Interpretation Act 1915 (see Appendix). No imprisonment term is specified. The Act does not create a continuing offence regime or daily penalties.

Enforcement is primarily civil. The Warden’s Court resolves disputes about prescribed works and may confirm objections, revoke them and set terms, remit for further negotiation, or make ancillary orders (s 15A(11)). Compensation claims for outlying-land interference go to the Magistrates Court in default of agreement (s 11(6)).

The Registrar-General is under mandatory duties to note easements on certificates of title or Crown leases upon application (s 13(1)), issue certificates of easement (s 14(1)), register dealings with Ministerial consent (s 14(2)), cancel extinguished easements (s 12(3)), and record vesting of registrable interests (s 19) and pipeline-lease transactions (s 26(10)). These duties are enforceable by mandamus or judicial review, although s 13(3) permits the Registrar-General to act on the face of the application without verification.

The Treasurer may issue evidentiary certificates conclusive in the absence of contrary proof as to whether assets, liabilities or instruments were transferred (s 20) or whether action formed part of the authorised sale project (s 37). The Auditor-General must be kept informed of sale negotiations (s 23), creating a statutory accountability mechanism.

No specific regulatory enforcement regime survives from the pre-1995 era; the focus has shifted to private rights, Ministerial mediation and court determination. Breach of the minimisation duty in s 15 is not an offence but would sound in damages or injunctive relief, subject to the immunities in s 32 and s 33.

The Act is expressly paramount in several respects. Section 25 provides that it applies despite the Real Property Act 1886, the Registration of Deeds Act 1935 “or any other law”, and validates the statutory easement notwithstanding anything in those Acts. Section 30(1) exempts sale transactions from the Land and Business (Sale and Conveyancing) Act 1994. Section 30(2) removes the need for Development Act 1993 Part 4 approvals. Section 16(6) states that transfers operate by force of the Act despite any other law or instrument.

Conversely, the Act is careful not to derogate from the Petroleum Act 1940. A note to s 11(1) states that the easement rights do not remove the requirement for a pipeline licence under s 80D of that Act. Rights may only be exercised if the owner or its agent holds the licence. Section 30(3) expressly preserves Petroleum Act 1940 safety and environmental requirements. Pipeline Licence No 2 rights are preserved but subordinated in certain respects (ss 12(2), 26(11)).

Interaction with the Superannuation Act 1988 is intricate. Schedule 1 modifies multiple sections (ss 27, 28, 32, 34, 38, 39, 39A) by substituting CPI-adjusted salary definitions, altering pension calculations, and changing preservation rules. Sections 3(6) and 4(10) of the Schedule rewrite statutory formulas. Part 4 and 5 of the Superannuation Act 1988 apply to transferring employees only to the extent modified by the Schedule (Sch 1 cl 5).

The Crown Lands Act 1929 is overridden in respects concerning pipeline leases: transfers do not require further approval (s 16(5)), grants resume earlier tenements without compensation (s 26(5)), and dedications are revoked (s 26(6)). The Minister may, however, exclude land from these effects by Gazette-published instrument.

Native title is preserved by s 28(1), consistent with the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). The Act does not affect pre-existing Aboriginal rights of access (s 28(2)).

The Acts Interpretation Act 1915 supplies the divisional penalty scheme (Appendix) and rules for proclamations (s 38(3) prevents amendment or revocation of proclamations unless the Act specifically contemplates it).

The most significant recent amendments occurred in 2015 and 2016. The Natural Gas Authority (Notice of Works) Amendment Act 2015 (assented 9 July 2015, commenced 1 January 2016) inserted s 15A and amended s 11. It introduced the detailed 21-day notice regime for prescribed works, the objection process limited to safety and operational grounds, Ministerial mediation, and Warden’s Court jurisdiction. Associated equipment definitions were expanded (s 11(3)) and a new subsection 11(1a) confirmed that associated equipment remains the owner’s property. The changes responded to increasing third-party development near pipelines (urban encroachment, mining, renewables infrastructure) and the need for a clear, time-bound process to prevent inadvertent damage while protecting pipeline integrity. The $60 000 maximum penalty aligned with contemporary penalty scales.

The Real Property (Electronic Conveyancing) Amendment Act 2016 made minor consequential changes to s 14(1) to accommodate electronic lodgment.

Earlier, the Statutes Amendment and Repeal (Simplify) Act 2017 deleted s 22 (no longer relevant post-sale). The 1995 amendments remain the most transformative, converting the Act from an operational statute into a post-privatisation easement code. Those changes were driven by the Government’s asset-sale and debt-reduction policy announced in the early 1990s; net proceeds were required to be applied first to the Authority’s obligations and then to retiring State debt (s 16(8)).

The legislative history and text do not record any reported court challenges specifically under the current provisions. Pre-1995 versions generated litigation concerning land acquisition and compensation (transitional savings in the 1995 Act preserved unfinished acquisition proceedings). The Warden’s Court mechanism in s 15A has not, on the face of the Act or its history, produced appellate decisions cited in the consolidation.

Controversies have instead arisen in the political and regulatory sphere. The 1995 sale was criticised for lack of transparency; s 23’s requirement to keep the Auditor-General informed was a direct response. Landowners have expressed concern about the width of servient land (up to 25 m in places) and the ability of owners to access outlying land within 5 km for cathodic protection and access routes. The retrospective boundary-variation power in s 10(4) attracted comment for its potential to disturb settled property expectations, although it is time-limited to the adjustment period (long expired).

The interaction with native title remains a live issue. Section 28(1) states that creation of the easement or grant of a pipeline lease “does not affect any native title that may exist”. This wording tracks the non-extinguishment principle in the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), but future works could still constitute “future acts” requiring procedural rights. No litigation testing the precise interaction is recorded in the Act’s history.

The superannuation modifications in Schedule 1 generated administrative complexity; the one-month election windows and deemed elections (cll 3(7), 4(2), 4(4)) have the potential to prejudice employees who miss deadlines, although the Superannuation Board’s extension power (cl 6) mitigates this.

Most practitioners assume statutory easements under this Act are registered and therefore easily discoverable. In fact, the Registrar-General may note them without a plan (s 13(2)(a)) and the application need only contain a schedule of titles. Title searches may therefore not reveal the full spatial extent; the definitive source is always Schedule 2 read with any Ministerial variation published in the Gazette under s 10(4)(b) or s 15A(7).

The 5 km “outlying land” radius for cathodic protection and access is measured “in a horizontal plane to each side of the centreline at right angles to the centreline” (definition of outlying land). This creates a rectangular buffer rather than a simple 5 km radius, which can surprise landowners whose property lies diagonally from the pipeline.

Section 11(1) rights may only be exercised if a pipeline licence is held; many assume the easement itself authorises construction. The note to s 11(1) and cross-reference to Petroleum Act 1940 s 80D make clear that the easement is subordinate to licensing. Failure to appreciate this can expose owners to strict liability offences under the Petroleum Act.

Joint-venture participants are jointly and severally liable (s 31(1)) even if the joint-venture agreement contains several liability clauses. The Act overrides such arrangements for its own obligations. Notices given to any one participant suffice if no representative is nominated (s 31(4)).

The CPI-adjustment formulas in Schedule 1 cll 3(6) and 4(10) use “actual or attributed salary … immediately before the transfer date adjusted to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index from the transfer date to the date of termination”. Many superannuation calculations still use the unadjusted 1995-era salary, leading to under- or over-payments if not carefully audited against the exact wording.

Finally, the Minister’s power to qualify rights outside servient land (s 29) expired with the adjustment period. Any qualifications must have been imposed before the end of that period; later attempts are ultra vires. Conversely, pipeline owners cannot unilaterally surrender part of the easement without Ministerial approval and surveys (s 9).

Pipeline owners should maintain an up-to-date register of servient and outlying land by overlaying Schedule 2 coordinates on current cadastral data. Before any works, confirm that a valid pipeline licence under the Petroleum Act 1940 is in force. Develop standard operating procedures that document reasonable steps to minimise damage and avoid unnecessary interference (s 15(1)). For third-party works, implement a 14-day response protocol that limits objections to safety or operational interference and records reasons. Where objection is made, immediately notify the Minister to trigger the 21-day mediation window.

Landowners and occupiers must not commence prescribed works without first sending written notice at least 21 days in advance. If consent is refused, consider whether the objection is validly grounded in safety or operation; if not, apply promptly to the Warden’s Court. Keep records of any interference with use or enjoyment of outlying land to support compensation claims under s 11(5).

Prospective purchasers of interests near the pipelines should obtain a s 20 Treasurer’s certificate and conduct a title search that specifically requests notation of statutory easements under this Act. Legal due diligence should include review of any Gazette notices varying boundaries or qualifying rights.

Former Authority employees or their advisers should check whether a transfer election was made within the one-month window. Where benefits have been preserved, track the CPI-adjusted salary figure from the 1995 transfer date rather than current salary. The Superannuation Board retains power to extend time if prejudice is shown (Sch 1 cl 6).

All parties should be alert to the interaction with native title. Any new works that may affect native title rights require separate assessment under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) notwithstanding s 28 of this Act.

Compliance documentation should expressly reference the Act’s overriding effect (s 25, s 30) and the saving provisions (s 21, s 36) when drafting contracts or disclosures connected with the pipelines. Annual training for field staff on the precise boundaries in Schedule 2 and the definition of “associated equipment” is advisable given the 2015 expansions.

In summary, compliance rests on three pillars: spatial awareness of the exact easement corridors, strict adherence to the s 15A notice and objection timeline, and recognition that the Act’s protections and immunities are narrowly drawn and operate alongside, not in place of, Petroleum Act licensing and environmental obligations.