Preliminary activity requirements

The information on this page applies from June 2023.

Preliminary activities are activities that have no impact or only a minor impact on the land use activities or business activities of a landholder. They can include:

  • walking the area of the permit
  • driving along an existing road or track in the area
  • taking soil or water samples
  • geophysical surveying not involving site preparation
  • aerial, electrical or environmental surveying
  • survey pegging.

Is it an advanced activity?

A preliminary activity is considered an advanced activity if it either:

  • affects the lawful carrying out of an organic or bioorganic farming system
  • is undertaken on land of less than 100 hectares that's being used for:
    • intensive farming (dryland or irrigated cropping, plantation forestry or horticulture)
    • broadacre agriculture (dairy, cattle or sheep feedlots, piggeries, or poultry farms).

Read more about advanced activities, including examples.

Who this applies to

The following requirements apply when resource authority holders enter private land within the area of their resource authority. It applies to all resource authority holders except holders of prospecting permits, mining claims or mining leases. This is because alternative requirements apply to prospecting permits, and to mining claims and mining leases.

A special process applies to gain entry to private land outside the area of the resource authority and to restricted land around certain buildings, structures and areas.

Communicating with landholders – advice for resource operators

Good relationships between resource operators and landholders are built on early, transparent and respectful communication.

Before issuing an entry notice, a resource authority holder should contact or visit all impacted landholders to discuss the proposed activities. This will give them a clearer idea of the impacts and allow them to modify them plans, if required, to reduce these. The landholder might also be able to modify their own activities to minimise disruptions.

For planning an aerial survey, a resource authority holder could consider advertising it or holding a community hall meeting to engage with affected landholders.

For directional drilling activity, read the directional drilling information sheet (PDF, 217KB) for an explanation of the regulations and landholder rights that apply when directional drilling activities are carried out on adjacent private land.

Important: If operations will have more than a minor impact on the landholder's land use or business activities, they should be treated as advanced activities. The resource authority holder will then need to negotiate an agreement with the landholder.

Entry notices

The resource authority holder needs to provide an entry notice to the landholder at least 10 days before they plan to enter a property.

Other land access requirements

Resource authority holders must comply with the mandatory conditions of the Land Access Code when carrying out authorised activities on a landholder's land. These conditions cannot be altered or waived by agreement. All parties are encouraged to comply with the code's best practice recommendations.

Entry to restricted land around certain buildings, structures or areas requires the written consent of the landholder.

Also consider...

  • Last reviewed: 3 Jan 2024
  • Last updated: 3 Jan 2024