State Indigenous land use agreements
About state agreements
A state Indigenous land use agreement (agreement) is an agreement that has been negotiated between the State, mining representative bodies, land councils and traditional land owners. It contains previously negotiated conditions that address native title requirements.
These agreements are generally made for small-scale mining ventures, such as alluvial gold and tin miners, opal and gemstone miners. They are available only for applications made under the Mineral Resource Act 1989, and only to those targeting minerals, not coal.
A state agreement is registered with the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT), and binds the resource authority holder, the native title party and the Queensland Government to the conditions within the agreement.
If you satisfy a state agreement's eligibility criteria, you can 'deed into' it. See below for information about deeding into a state agreement.
Current state agreements
Registered state agreements currently in place are:
- NQMA small scale mining agreement - Ewamian People - Part A (PDF, 1.5MB) Part B (PDF, 1.4MB)
- NQMA small scale mining agreement - Western Yalanji People - Part A (PDF, 1.3MB) Part B (PDF, 1.3MB)
- NQMA small scale mining agreement - Djungan People - Part A (PDF, 1.9MB) Part B (PDF, 1.3MB)
Eligibility to deed into a state agreement
To determine whether you're eligible to deed into a state agreement, please refer to the relevant agreement. Eligible applicants must meet the definition of small miner as set out in the agreement and the applicant must be wholly within the agreement area (see the table below). As this table lists only key criteria, please read the relevant agreement document to see the full list of eligibility criteria.
| State agreement | Key eligibility criteria |
|---|---|
NQMA small scale mining agreement:
| Prospecting permits, mining claims, mineral development licences, exploration permits and mining leases Term: can be any term Maximum areas held:
|
General conditions on state agreement
Below are conditions that are usually included in each state agreement. Please refer to the individual state agreement for specific information and a full list of conditions.
- Applicants must be holders of a standard environmental authority (formerly level 2 environmental authority).
- Restrictions apply to the amount of land disturbance at any one time.
- The conditions imposed under a state agreement are in addition to any mandatory conditions under the Mineral Resources Act 1989 and imposed by the environmental authority.
Process
If there is a current state agreement and your application satisfies the criteria of a registered state agreement and you agree to its conditions, we may grant the resource authority under the state agreement.
Once you execute the deed and return it to us with any required payments, the native title process is complete.
If you don't wish to deed into the agreement, you need to complete another native title process.
View the process flow chart for state agreements (PDF, 53KB).
Associated costs
There are costs associated with deeding into a state agreement, which vary for each agreement. Below is some general information, but you'll find more specifics in each agreement.
You usually need to pay:
- inspection fees for the completion of all native title claimant group inspections
- land use payments at grant or renewal, and possibly annual fees.
Also consider...
- Read the Native Title Act 1993.
- Read our native title guidelines for help with native title compliance.
- Contact us for help with your native title requirements.
- Contact Northern Region for information about expired Mareeba district agreement.
- Last reviewed: 3 Jan 2020
- Last updated: 6 Jan 2020