Exploration and mining on private land in NSW: a brief legislative history

The recent mining boom and emergence of the coal seam gas industry have created significant economic opportunities but they have also raised concerns about the potential impacts of these activities on the environment and on agricultural land. In NSW, as in other States, these issues, and the tensions between mining companies and farmers, have generated much debate both in the community and in Parliament. Previous publications have outlined the regulatory framework for the mining and coal seam gas industries in NSW. This framework is comprised of mining and petroleum legislation as well as environmental and planning legislation. This e-brief presents a brief history of land access provisions in NSW: first in relation to minerals, and secondly in relation to petroleum (which includes coal seam gas). This paper also briefly examines land access provisions in other States