Legal development

Key developments in the Queensland land access space

By Libby McKillop, Paul Wilson and Tony Denholder

13 April 2026

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Queensland, Australia
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    What you need to know

    • The Queensland Government tabled new regulations moving mining royalty provisions into a separate regulation and establishing a rent deferral framework.
    • A new landholder guide for negotiating decommissioning arrangements for renewable energy projects was released in September 2025.
    • The Queensland Government also released a Social Licence in Renewable Energy Toolkit, offering practical resources including templates, checklists and guidance to help communities and councils manage social impacts and strengthen local benefits.
    • The new Queensland Energy Roadmap 2025 departs from the previous Government's 2022 Energy and Jobs Plan. It focuses on levering coal and gas assets while maintaining the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

    What you need to do

    • Keep an eye out for changes to the coexistence framework and operation of the Land Access Ombudsman which may be introduced by the Resources Safety and Health Queensland and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026.
    • Keep on top of the myriad of developments in the renewable energy space, including potential incorporation of more robust decommissioning requirements into development approvals, delivery of Queensland Energy Roadmap milestones and any changes in council attitudes toward renewable energy projects following release of the new Social Licence in Renewable Energy Toolkit.

    Changes to mining royalties and rent deferrals

    The Mineral Resources Regulation 2025 (Qld) (MR Regulation) and Mineral Resources (Royalty) Regulation 2025 (Qld) (Royalty Regulation) commenced on 1 September 2025, replacing the previous 2013 regulations.

    The MR Regulation is substantially similar to the 2013 regulation, but for one major amendment which saw the royalty provisions moved into the separate Royalty Regulation.

    The Royalty Regulation prescribes the rates and methods for calculating royalties, the manner of making and lodging royalty returns and the time and manner of royalty assessment and payment. It makes no changes to the formulas for working out royalty liability or to royalty rates.

    Other key amendments introduced by the MR Regulation include:

    • References to the "Australian guidelines for estimating and reporting of inventory coal, coal resources and coal reserves" have been replaced with references to the JORC code, an internationally recognised code to measure coal reserves.
    • The list of prescribed minerals and prescribed thresholds has been expanded in anticipation of an increase in critical minerals projects.
    • Resource authority holders can now have a common reporting date for activity reports that are required annually. This will allow resource authority holders with a large number of exploration permits or mineral development licences to request one due date for their reports to reduce regulatory burden.

    Further, the Mineral and Energy Resources and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025 (MEROLA Regulation) commenced in June 2025, establishing a rent deferral framework.

    The framework is intended to support resource authority holders when their operations are impacted by circumstances beyond their control. The framework allows the Minister to declare a "hardship area". The hardship area may capture all resource authorities of a certain type or only specific resource authorities affected by an exceptional circumstance. The framework is intended to provide only short-term relief to resource authority holders, as the Minister may defer all or part of the rent payable for up to one year at a time. Unless there is continuing hardship, rent must be paid within five years of the rent deferral period.

    New guide for decommissioning renewable energy projects

    Coexistence Queensland released a new landholder guide for decommissioning renewable energy projects in September 2025.

    There is no specific legislative framework in Queensland governing the decommissioning of renewable energy projects. Decommissioning requirements and obligations are dealt with as part of the development assessment process under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld). To receive a development approval, wind and solar developments must meet certain criteria set out in the relevant development codes. These codes contain clear performance outcomes for decommissioning.

    Coexistence Queensland's new guide encourages landholders to seek independent legal advice when determining appropriate decommissioning arrangements. The guide covers key considerations including: the description of the project, its location on the land and lifetime; decommissioning and rehabilitation obligations; financial security; ongoing consultation, consent and review requirements; details of any infrastructure to be retained; decommissioning timing; and cost estimates.

    New toolkit for social licence in renewable energy developments

    The Queensland Government recently released the Social Licence in Renewable Energy Toolkit, designed to help councils understand their roles in the development of new renewable energy projects and how to support a new project's social licence.

    The tools have been designed to be considered by councils with respect to renewable energy projects for solar farms and wind farms assessable under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld). The toolkit does not apply to coordinated projects declared under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (Qld).

    This toolkit offers practical resources, including templates, checklists and guidance. The tools will be released in a staged approach after further consultation with councils and will continue to evolve over time.

    Currently, there are five main tools available:

    • Checklist – Developing a guide to doing business in our region;
    • Checklist – Key questions to ask the proponents about potential projects;
    • Template – Renewable energy project pipeline register;
    • Checklist – Assessment of proponent's social impact assessment; and
    • Checklist – Developing community legacy benefits.

    Withdrawal of mining lease objections process

    In February 2025, we reported on the decision of the Attorney-General, Deb Frecklington MP, to withdraw the Queensland Law Reform Commission's terms of reference for review of mining lease objections, effective immediately. See our 25 February 2025 alert, "Review of Queensland's mining lease objection process to be completed in mid-2025".

    The review focussed on the processes used to decide contested applications for mining leases under the Mineral Resources Act 1989 (Qld) and associated environmental authorities under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld).

    The Chair of the Queensland Law Reform Commission, Fleur Kingham, commented that the Commission was disappointed that it could not finish its work on the review. The Attorney-General reiterated that the Resources Cabinet Committee would continue to consider policies and initiatives for the resources sector.

    Release of Queensland Energy Roadmap 2025

    The Queensland Government released the Queensland Energy Roadmap 2025 on 10 October 2025. The Roadmap serves as a five-year plan for Queensland's energy infrastructure with a focus on delivering affordable, reliable and sustainable energy. The Roadmap replaces the previous 2022 Energy and Jobs Plan. The focus areas of the Roadmap include coal, gas, storage, transmission, renewables and private sector and Government-owned corporations.

    Key components of the Roadmap that stakeholders should be aware of include:

    • a $400 million Queensland Energy Investment Fund and Queensland Investment Corporation's Investor Gateway, together designed to drive private sector investment in new energy generation and firming projects;
    • a $1.6 billion Electricity Maintenance Guarantee to improve current energy assets;
    • a clear decision-making framework for the operation of state-owned coal assets;
    • a tender for 400 MW of new gas-fired generation in Central Queensland;
    • a consolidated management of future pumped hydro proposals;
    • a $10 million investment into community-level batteries for greater solar storage to manage minimum system load;
    • establishment of Regional Energy Hubs; and
    • development of a new code of conduct for renewable energy developers to guide responsible behaviour.

    For more information about the Roadmap, see our 12 November 2025 alert, "Queensland Energy Roadmap 2025: A New Blueprint for Investment and Transition".

    Key trends in land access disputes

    The Land Access Ombudsman's primary function is to investigate disputes involving alleged breaches of Conduct and Compensation Agreements and Make Good Agreements. According to the most recent Annual Report published by the Ombudsman, 49 dispute referrals were directed to the Ombudsman in 2024–2025. This represents a slight increase from the 47 dispute referrals received in 2023–2024.

    Of the 49 dispute referrals, preliminary enquiries were commenced on four of the referrals with no investigative process following. This is a similar amount to that reported in 2023–2024. The Ombudsman did not undertake any full dispute resolution investigations in 2024–2025. Seven of the referrals related to the powers of the Ombudsman, and the remaining 42 were deemed to be out of the Ombudsman's jurisdiction. These out-of-jurisdiction claims were redirected to the appropriate bodies, most commonly to seek legal advice from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development.

    What to look out for in 2026

    As we move further into 2026, keep an eye out for the following key developments that will continue to shape the land access space in Queensland over the coming year:

    • changes to the existing coexistence framework and operation of the Land Access Ombudsman which may be introduced by the Resources Safety and Health Queensland and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026;
    • the Queensland Government's response to the Queensland Productivity Commission's final report, "Opportunities to improve productivity of the construction industry", released in January 2026. The report identifies restrictive land use regulation as one of the likely causes of poor productivity by the construction industry;
    • potential activation of rent deferrals for resource projects via Ministerial "hardship area" declarations;
    • potential incorporation of more robust decommissioning requirements into development approvals for renewable energy projects;
    • delivery of Queensland Energy Roadmap milestones, including the rollout of the Electricity Maintenance Guarantee, Queensland Energy Investment Fund and a new developer code of conduct; and
    • any changes in council attitudes toward renewable energy projects following release of the new Social Licence in Renewable Energy Toolkit.

    Other authors: Leanne Mahly, Lawyer

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    The information provided is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all developments in the law and practice, or to cover all aspects of those referred to.
    Readers should take legal advice before applying it to specific issues or transactions.

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