REFORM for Queensland’s resources legislation is now underway following the launch of the Queensland Government’s Modernising Queensland’s Resources Acts (MQRA) program to replace existing legislation with a single, common Act for resource tenure.

Currently, Queensland utilises separate legislation for minerals and coal, petroleum and gas, and geothermal and greenhouse gas storage, making the state’s regulatory volume for tenure administration system 73% larger than Alberta, Canada’s.

The MQRA program will progressively simplify the state’s resources legislation over several years, reducing compliance costs and duplication for both resource employers and governing bodies.

In particular, the Acts included in the scope of the program include the:

• Mineral Resources Act 1989;
• Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004;
• Petroleum Act 1923;
• Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009; and
• Geothermal Energy Act 2010.

The program will implement three Bills over four years to 2016-17, each of which will be founded in widespread stakeholder engagement with resource industry groups.

State ownership of resources in collaboration with rent and royalties based on land tenures and permits will remain unchanged under the new Act.

Additionally, the program will not review the interaction of state and federal legislation, or cover association OHS legislation or offshore petroleum legislation.

For more information about the program, click here.