Every freehold owner, lessee, mortgagee in possession, occupier and stratum holder in New South Wales is directly affected (s 29(1)). Because land value forms the base for council rates (Local Government Act 1993) and land tax (Land Tax Management Act 1956), the Act’s valuations determine the quantum of those liabilities. Councils and the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue are statutorily obliged to use the Valuer-General’s figures (s 61). Sydney Water Corporation is likewise bound, subject to any special arrangement under Part 6B.

Contract valuers and their directors, officers and employees are brought within the Act’s information-protection and conflict rules (s 11(3)) and may exercise functions of the Valuer-General when authorised by a valuation service contract (s 13H(2)). The Land and Environment Court is the statutory forum for appeals (s 37) and for cases stated by the Valuer-General (s 42). The Registrar-General must forward transaction information to the Valuer-General (s 71A), thereby feeding the valuation database. Public authorities holding Crown land may request valuations (s 14A(2)(a)). Owners of heritage-restricted land may apply for a formal determination (s 14G(3)), as may owners of rent-protected land (s 14H(3)).

In short, the Act touches every landowner, every local and state taxing body, valuers in private practice who contract with the Valuer-General, the court system, and the land-title administration.

The Valuer-General’s central duty is to ascertain land values annually (s 14A(1)) and to maintain the Register of Land Values (s 9(1)(a)). The Valuer-General must enter valuations on the basis of contract valuers’ recommendations unless the recommendation is revised or the contract valuer fails to provide one (s 13H). The Valuer-General must give notice of each valuation to the owner, any liable lessee or occupier, any long-term lessee who pays rates, and any mortgagee in possession (s 29(1)). The Valuer-General must determine objections (s 35B) and, where an objection is allowed in whole or part, must amend the Register and issue a revised certificate (s 14DD).

Owners, lessees and mortgagees in possession have the right to object on the grounds listed in s 34 (value too high or low, incorrect description, wrong apportionment, incorrect grouping or separation of parcels, incorrect identification of owner or lessee). Objections must be lodged within 60 days after service of the notice or, for land-tax or property-tax assessments, after service of the assessment (s 35(1)). Late objections may be permitted if the Valuer-General is satisfied there are reasonable grounds (s 35A). An objector must notify other interested persons (s 29(3B)). If dissatisfied with the Valuer-General’s determination, the objector (or any other person entitled to object) may appeal to the Land and Environment Court within 60 days (ss 37, 38). The appellant bears the onus of proof (s 40(2)).

Rating and taxing authorities must use the Valuer-General’s valuations (s 61) and may themselves object (s 31). They must notify the Valuer-General when lessees or occupiers become liable to pay rates (s 32). Owners must supply information on request (s 15) and produce documents (s 15A). Lessors must supply copies of leases containing rate-recovery covenants (s 73). Purchasers, transferees and assignees of land or long leases must notify the Valuer-General within one month (s 71(1)); that obligation is satisfied if the information is lodged with the Registrar-General (s 71(2)).

Breach of the information-protection rules in s 11 carries a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units. Failure to return a completed information form (s 15(3)) or to produce documents when required (s 15A(4)) attracts a maximum of 2 penalty units. Obstructing an authorised person or refusing to answer relevant questions carries the same 2-penalty-unit maximum (s 75(1)). The Valuer-General may sue for recovery of fees (s 80) and may initiate and conduct prosecutions for any breach (s 80). Proceedings are heard summarily before the Local Court (s 80A).

The Act does not itself create criminal offences for supplying false valuations; instead it relies on the general law and on the fact that valuations are entered in a public register whose entries are conclusive for rating purposes (s 14CC(3)). Civil enforcement is achieved by the statutory obligation on authorities to use the Valuer-General’s figures (s 61) and by the Court’s powers on appeal (s 40).

The Act is expressly linked to the Local Government Act 1993 (councils are the primary rating authorities – s 47(1)), the Land Tax Management Act 1956 and the Property Tax (First Home Buyer Choice) Act 2022 (s 35(1)(b)), the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (planning instruments trigger heritage restrictions – s 14G), the Heritage Act 1977 (State Heritage Register listings prevent a heritage-restricted determination – s 14G(5)), the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015 (strata definitions and separate valuation rules – ss 4(1), 26AA, 27A, 28B), the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 (compulsory-acquisition valuations – s 68), the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (Western Division and Crown lease restrictions – ss 13, 14C, 14I), the Water Management Act 2000 (water rights – s 6A(3)), the Community Land Development Act 2021 (s 14E) and the Conveyancing Act 1919 and Real Property Act 1900 (deposited plans and notification of changes of ownership – s 71(2)).

Section 4(3) provides that nothing in the Act relating to strata affects the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015. Section 60 deems the assessed annual value ascertained under the Act to be the assessed annual value for the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1948, the Strata Schemes Development Act 2015, the Sydney Water Act 1994 and the (repealed) Water Supply Authorities Act 1987. Section 14J requires that allowances under Divisions 3 and 4 be deducted from land value for all purposes. Objections and appeals under the Act displace any overlapping review rights under other legislation (s 37(3)).

The Valuation of Land Amendment Act 2011 inserted s 9A (private valuations) to enable the Valuer-General to issue valuations for private agreements while retaining the ability to delegate or rely on contract valuers. It also clarified the heritage provisions in s 14G and the corresponding sections of the Heritage Act 1977 so that the “new for old” assumption and the prohibition on further adjustments were explicit. Those changes were a direct legislative response to litigation that had exposed ambiguities in the pre-2011 wording.

The Revenue, Fines and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 inserted s 71A and substituted s 78A. Section 71A requires the Registrar-General to forward transaction data to the Valuer-General; s 78A expressly authorises the Valuer-General to use that data for statutory functions, to sell it to third parties (for example property-information on-sellers) or to publish it, subject to prescribed exclusions. The amendments were designed to improve the currency and accuracy of the Register of Land Values and to create a lawful basis for data commercialisation while preserving privacy safeguards.

The Local Government and Valuation of Land Amendment (Water Rights) Act 2005 amended the definition of land improvements and the land-value provisions to ensure that water rights are included in land value but the value of the water itself is ignored (s 6A(3)–(4)). That change aligned the Act with contemporary water-trading legislation.

Because the Act is the foundation for rating and taxation, most litigation concerns whether the Valuer-General has applied the correct statutory assumptions. The continuing-use assumptions in s 6A(2) have generated repeated disputes about whether a site’s highest-and-best use may be taken into account when the land is currently used for a lower-value purpose. The heritage provisions in s 14G have been contentious; the 2009 and 2011 amendments were direct legislative corrections after courts had reached differing views on whether a deduction for the cost of restoring heritage fabric was permissible.

Section 14M’s 15-year cut-off for profitable-expenditure allowances and the exclusion when land changes ownership have produced appeals about the precise date on which expenditure is “incurred” and whether a change in legal ownership triggered by corporate reconstruction counts. The apportionment-factor provisions for mixed-use buildings (Divisions 5 and 5A) have led to disputes over the correct rental-value ratio when ground-floor retail is combined with upper-floor residential.

The onus-of-proof rule in s 40(2) has been strictly applied; the Land and Environment Court has repeatedly held that an appellant must prove not only that the Valuer-General’s value is wrong but also what the correct value is. That forensic burden has been criticised by practitioners as reversing the normal onus that would apply in ordinary civil litigation.

Controversies have also arisen over the Valuer-General’s reliance on contract valuers. Section 13H(3) permits the Valuer-General to adopt a recommendation without independent verification; objectors have argued that this constitutes an impermissible delegation. The courts have upheld the provision on the basis that the statutory language is clear and that the Valuer-General retains ultimate responsibility for the entry in the Register.

Most practitioners assume that “land value” means the value of the land in its unimproved state. That is only partly correct. Section 6A(2) requires the valuer to assume that the land may continue to be used for its existing or potential use and that improvements necessary to support that use may be continued or made. The result is that land value can reflect a use that would require buildings even though those buildings are notionally stripped out. The distinction is subtle and frequently missed in objections.

The 15-year cut-off in s 14M for profitable-expenditure allowances is calculated from the date of the valuation, not from the date the expenditure was incurred. An allowance that was available in the 2005 valuation list may disappear in the 2021 list even though the physical works remain. Many owners discover this only when they receive a supplementary valuation after selling part of the land.

Section 14G(1)(b1) deems all existing improvements on heritage-restricted land to be “new” for valuation purposes. This prevents any deduction for depreciation or obsolescence. The provision was inserted to overcome earlier decisions that had allowed such deductions; it can produce the counter-intuitive result that a dilapidated heritage building is valued as though it had just been constructed to modern standards.

The definition of “land improvements” in s 4(1) is exhaustive. Excavation, filling or levelling associated with the erection of a building is expressly included (para (d1)), yet the same work performed for irrigation or conservation is excluded. The distinction turns on the dominant purpose of the works; that purpose is often difficult to prove years later.

Section 26AA treats an entire strata parcel as a single parcel owned by the owners corporation until a new valuation showing the corporation as owner takes effect. This can produce a temporary mismatch between the valuation roll and the strata roll, with rating consequences that catch purchasers by surprise.

Finally, s 35AA prevents repeated objections to the same land-tax valuation unless the Valuer-General grants permission on “special reasons”. The fact that a new owner was not the objector in the previous cycle is not itself a special reason. Many conveyancers fail to advise purchasers of this restriction, leaving them unable to challenge a valuation that was fixed before they acquired the property.

Compliance begins with understanding that the Register of Land Values is the single source of truth. Any person expecting to rely on a valuation should obtain a certificate under s 14EE rather than relying on a contract valuer’s preliminary advice. Owners who receive a notice of valuation under s 29 should immediately check the land description, the stated use, the presence of any heritage or water-right notation, and the calculation of any allowance or apportionment factor. If any element appears incorrect, an objection must be lodged within 60 days (or within the land-tax objection window) and must state the statutory ground in s 34.

When preparing an objection or appeal, the onus is on the taxpayer to prove the correct value. That requires competent expert evidence that addresses the precise statutory assumptions. For heritage land the evidence must demonstrate that the assumptions in s 14G have been applied; for subdivision allowances the evidence must quantify the discount from sale price that would apply to a bulk purchaser (s 14U). Valuers and lawyers should maintain a file note showing that the statutory assumptions were expressly considered.

Rating and taxing authorities must not alter the Valuer-General’s figures except to record changes of ownership or occupancy (s 50(1)). Any request for an alteration must be forwarded to the Valuer-General. Authorities should maintain an audit trail of every valuation list and supplementary list received so that the statutory obligation under s 61 can be demonstrated.

Contract valuers entering valuation service contracts should ensure that the contract expressly authorises the exercise of any Valuer-General discretion they are expected to use (s 13A(2)(g)). They must also observe the information-protection rules in s 11; breach by a contract valuer is a breach by a person “involved in the administration or execution of this Act”.

Owners of land that may become ratable (for example, former Crown land) should request a valuation under s 19B so that the base date is locked in. Owners of land affected by a change in planning controls, acquisition of a water right, or physical damage should request a re-valuation under s 60A. In all cases, an application for a heritage-restricted or rent-protected determination under ss 14G(3) or 14H(3) should be made in the approved form and supported by the information the Valuer-General requires.

Finally, changes of ownership or long leases must be notified within one month (s 71). The safest route is to ensure that the purchaser’s solicitor lodges the transfer together with the notice required by s 71(2); that satisfies both the Real Property Act 1900 and the Valuation of Land Act 1916 in one step.