Community involvement in mining and petroleum lease approvals

Queensland’s resources and environment laws provide the community with a number of opportunities to have their say on proposed mining and petroleum (oil and gas) projects. These opportunities are an important part of a project’s approvals processes.

Application processes for mining and petroleum projects

Before a resource company can begin to mine or produce resources from land, it must first have a production resource authority, such as a mining lease or petroleum lease.

It is a requirement for a resource company applying for a mining lease or petroleum lease to have been issued an environmental authority (EA) before the resource authority can be granted.

In some cases, particularly where the project may have significant impacts on the environment, the resource company must also complete an environmental impact statement (EIS) prior to the draft EA stage.

This guide outlines the processes required for mining and petroleum projects and highlights the points at which community participation may occur.

Other opportunities to participate

There are other community participation points not explored by this guide that may apply to mining or petroleum projects.

Members of the community may be able to make a submission on and appeal the decision to grant a water licence for a project.

Further, individuals and community groups may be able to participate in processes related to: