Land Access Ombudsman Bill 2017

Introduced: 23/5/2017By: Hon Dr A Lynham MPStatus: PASSED

Environment Regional Queensland Business & Economy

This summary was generated by AI and has not yet been reviewed by a human.

Plain English Summary

This is an omnibus bill covering multiple policy areas.

Overview

This bill sets up a new independent Land Access Ombudsman to help landholders and resource companies resolve disputes about the agreements that govern mining, petroleum and gas activity on private land. It also gives the Land Court power to decide these disputes and preserves technical mining rules that were due to expire.

Who it affects

Rural landholders, bore owners and resource companies with conduct and compensation or make good agreements are most affected, gaining a free, independent body to investigate alleged breaches of those agreements.

New Land Access Ombudsman

Creates an independent ombudsman, appointed by the Governor in Council, to investigate alleged breaches of conduct and compensation agreements (between landholders and resource companies) and make good agreements (between bore owners and resource companies). The service is free, non-binding, and designed to avoid court.

A landholder, occupier or bore owner can refer an alleged breach of their agreement to the ombudsman at no cost
The ombudsman must act independently and cannot be directed by anyone, including the Minister
The ombudsman holds office for up to three years, reappointable to a maximum of ten years
The ombudsman must publish an annual report but cannot identify the parties to disputes

Powers to investigate and enter land

Gives the ombudsman powers to compel information, require meetings and enter dispute land with consent, with offences for non-compliance. Individuals keep the right to refuse to answer if it would incriminate them.

Failing to provide required documents or attend a meeting without a reasonable excuse carries a maximum 100 penalty unit fine
The ombudsman can only enter dispute land with the written consent of owners, occupiers and, if relevant, the resource authority holder
The ombudsman cannot take anything from the land and cannot make binding decisions
Disclosing confidential information without authority carries a maximum 100 penalty unit fine

Land Court jurisdiction over CCA disputes

Gives the Land Court jurisdiction to decide alleged breaches of conduct and compensation agreements, replacing the need to go to the District or Supreme Court. This consolidates all CCA-related matters with one specialist court.

Parties can apply to the Land Court for an order about an alleged breach of a CCA during or after the agreement
The Land Court can make any order it considers appropriate on such an application
The ombudsman's written notice about a dispute is admissible as evidence in the Land Court but not binding

Saving expiring mining transitional rules

Moves provisions from the Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Transitional Regulation 2016 (expiring 27 September 2017) into primary legislation, and extends time for resolving coal/CSG safety disputes still in arbitration.

Pre-existing restricted land rules keep applying to mining and petroleum tenures applied for before the 2014 Common Provisions Act commenced
Existing reserve-owner consents and notifiable road use notices continue under the harmonised land access framework
Coal and CSG operations can keep running under existing safety plans until joint interaction management plan arbitration finishes
Only the preferred tenderer in a petroleum lease competitive tender has to give a petroleum production notice to overlapping coal holders

How this affects you

Environment

•Landholders get a free independent investigator for disputes with mining, gas and petroleum companies over land access agreementsClauses 3-4, 16The ombudsman's purpose is to facilitate timely resolution of disputes between parties to a conduct and compensation agreement or make good agreement.
•Bore owners affected by resource activity can use the ombudsman as a lower-cost alternative to the statutory Water Act dispute processClause 7A land access dispute includes a dispute between parties to a make good agreement about an alleged breach of the agreement.
•The ombudsman can recommend that regulators investigate suspected breaches of resource, water or environmental protection lawsClauses 53-55The ombudsman may notify the chief executive (natural resources and mines), chief executive (water) or chief executive (environment protection) of suspected offences or authority breaches.
•The ombudsman can only enter your land with your consent, and cannot take anything from itClauses 45, 50Entry provisions have been narrowed to entry by consent only, and the ombudsman has not been conferred the power to take anything from the land.

Regional Queensland

•Rural landholders get a free service to resolve land access disputes without having to pay for court or arbitrationClause 34Parties are able to access the land access ombudsman's no-cost dispute resolution services without complying with any dispute resolution clauses and risking civil liability for breach of their agreement.
•The Land Court can now hear disputes about breaches of conduct and compensation agreements, instead of the District or Supreme CourtClause 75A party may apply to the Land Court for an order about the alleged breach, during the term or after the end of the agreement.
•Farmers and graziers who already have an agreement in place can still use the ombudsman, even for disputes that arose before the law startedClause 67A land access dispute referral may be made and dealt with even if the agreement was entered into, or the dispute arose, before commencement.

Business & Economy

•Resource companies that ignore ombudsman requests for documents or meetings can be fined up to 100 penalty unitsClauses 42-43Maximum penalty of 100 penalty units applies where a party fails to provide a document or information, or fails to attend a meeting and answer questions, without a reasonable excuse.
•Coal and coal seam gas companies with overlapping tenures keep their existing transitional rules instead of facing a cliff on 27 September 2017Clauses 71, 76, 78-82, 85, 88Provisions in the Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Transitional Regulation 2016 are migrated into primary legislation before the regulation's expiry.
•In a petroleum lease competitive tender, only the preferred tenderer has to give a petroleum production notice to overlapping coal holders, reducing red tapeClause 76 (new s148A)The only PL holder required to give a petroleum production notice to a coal resource authority holder is the PL holder appointed as the preferred tenderer.
•The ombudsman cannot make binding decisions, so companies and landholders still retain their rights to go to court or arbitrationClause 51The written notice only provides information or advice to the parties; it is not binding.

Bill Journey

Introduced23 May 2017

First Reading

Committee

Committee Report7 Aug 2017

Committee report tabled

Second Reading

In Detail

Third Reading

Royal Assent13 Sept 2017

Referenced Entities

Sectors Affected

Agriculture Land Management Courts Coal Mining Petroleum and Gas

Classified using AGIFT/ANZSIC Australian government standards