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Pastoral Land Act 1992
79Access to waterways
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79 Access to waterways
(1) Subject to this or any other law in force in the Territory, a person
has, without the specific permission of the pastoral lessee, a right
to be on:
(a) perennial natural water (including the sea) on or surrounded
by (or, in the case of the sea or a stream or waters forming
the boundary of pastoral land, bordered by) pastoral land; or
(b) land within the prescribed distance of those waters.
(2) Subject to this Part, where a pastoral lessee, within 12 months after
the commencement of this Act, by notice in a newspaper circulating
in the area in which his or her pastoral land is situated, nominates a
reasonably practicable route across land the subject of his or her
lease from a public road to water referred to in subsection (1),
Pastoral Land Act 1992 56
advises the Board in writing of the route so nominated and
indicates on the land by reasonable signs or other means (such as
by grading the surface of an access road or track), access to the
water may be obtained by members of the public, without the
specific permission of the pastoral lessee, only by that route.
(3) Where a pastoral lessee has not under subsection (2) nominated a
route, or has nominated a route that the Board considers is not
practicable for the purposes of this Part, the Board may, in the
same manner, nominate such a route as the route, or an alternative
route, for public access to the water, and members of the public
may use the route accordingly.
(4) In exercising its discretion under subsection (3) the Board shall
have regard to:
(a) the possible environmental damage that may result from the
use of a proposed route;
(b) the adverse effect, if any, that its use may have on the
management of the pastoral land;
(c) the financial burden on any person (including the Territory)
that may result from the nomination of the route;
(d) the impact, if any, on the privacy of persons residing on the
(e) the availability of alternative access other than across the
(f) whether, in its opinion, it is necessary for access to be
provided across the pastoral land; and
(g) such other matters as it thinks fit or as are presented to it.
(5) A route shall not, by reason only of being nominated or indicated
pursuant to subsection (2) or (3) or being used by members of the
public as a consequence, become a public road.
(6) Subject to this Part, a person may camp temporarily on land within
the prescribed distance of water referred to in subsection (1).
(7) This section does not give a person the right to camp:
(a) within a radius of 2 kilometres of a homestead or other
residential premises on pastoral land;
(b) within a radius of 1 kilometre of a dam or other constructed
stock watering point on pastoral land; or
Pastoral Land Act 1992 57
(c) within 500 metres of every usual point of access for stock or
wildlife to natural water.
(8) In this section prescribed distance means 50 metres or where,
under subsection (9), some other distance is prescribed in relation
to particular waters or water at a place, that other distance in
relation to those waters or that place.
(9) The Board may, by notice in the Gazette, prescribe a distance for
the purposes of subsection (8).