What it does
The Pastoral Land Act 1992 is the principal statute governing the grant, administration, monitoring and conservation of pastoral land in the Northern Territory. At its core it establishes a specialised form of Crown leasehold tenure designed to support the sustainable commercial pasturing of stock while imposing positive duties to prevent degradation (s 6). The Act achieves this through a multi-layered scheme.
First, it authorises the Minister to grant pastoral leases over Crown land for pastoral purposes (s 31(1)). These leases may be perpetual or for a term not exceeding 25 years (s 48(1)). The Act contains detailed machinery for the initial grant (ss 32–37), including public notice, tender or auction processes, and a statutory maximum holding size of 13,000 km² (s 34(1)), enforced by statutory declaration requirements (s 35) and forfeiture mechanisms (s 35(7)–(12)).
Second, the Act imposes ongoing land-management obligations. Every pastoral lease is subject to implied conditions requiring the lessee to use the land only for pastoral purposes (s 38(1)(d)), to prevent degradation, to participate in monitoring, and to improve the land within financial and technical limits (s 6). The Pastoral Land Board is given express functions to monitor land condition, establish monitoring sites and reference areas, direct the preparation of remedial plans, and supervise rehabilitation (ss 29, 74–76). Part 7A, inserted in 2021, adds a strict permitting regime for clearing native vegetation: clearing is an offence unless done under a clearing permit or in accordance with permitted circumstances declared by Gazette notice (ss 91C–91D). Permits are time-limited, registrable, and subject to stop-work directions, rehabilitation directions and offences carrying 500 penalty units plus daily penalties (ss 91T–91ZB).
Third, the Act balances pastoral tenure with other interests. Part 6 creates statutory rights of public access to perennial natural waters and features of public interest (ss 79, 81), qualified by nominated access routes, temporary closures for management reasons (s 82) and closures for rehabilitation (s 83). Part 8 establishes a detailed procedure, including the Community Living Areas Tribunal, for Aboriginal persons with historical residential associations to obtain small excisions from pastoral leases for community living areas (ss 101–111). Part 7 allows the Board to grant non-pastoral use permits for activities that would otherwise breach the pastoral-purpose condition (ss 85A–89G), with public notification, assessment criteria and registration requirements.