Where you can fossick

Fossicking in national parks and state forests

Fossicking is not permitted in national parks, conservation parks and wildlife reserves, state forests or state timber reserves.

Fossicking is only permitted in state forests and state timber reserves where there is a general permission area.

Specified fossicking land

Specified fossicking areas have been created to allow easy access for fossicking. In these areas you don’t need to obtain special permission from the landowner.

See the current specified fossicking areas in Queensland.

Specified fossicking land falls into three categories:

• general permission areas
• designated fossicking land
• fossicking areas.

General permission areas

Some landholders have given general permission for fossicking or camping on specific areas of their properties - these are known as general permission areas (GPAs).

Make sure you follow the GPA conditions, any special conditions and pay any fee if required by the landholder.

Designated fossicking lands and areas

Designated fossicking lands and fossicking areas are established by the government in cooperation with local government and landholders. They are signposted and publicised as part of a statewide network to promote local tourism.

Commercial mining resource authorities are allowed in designated fossicking lands but not in fossicking areas.

Fossicking outside specified fossicking land

You can fossick in other areas that aren't designated as fossicking land. Some of those areas may require permission from an occupier first.

Watercourses

A watercourse is a river, creek or stream. You don't need permission to enter watercourses on public land.

In some places, a watercourse like a river or stream might form part of a property's boundary. You don't need permission to enter a boundary watercourse, but the owners of any adjoining property may have rights over the land to take water, or trespass rights.

You should contact the property owners or adjacent owners before you fossick in any watercourses that are on tenured land (e.g., freehold or leased land).

Make sure you follow all rules and responsibilities when fossicking in watercourses.

Unoccupied land

If the land is unoccupied (for example unallocated state land), you don’t need permission to fossick unless:

• there has been a native title determination over the land, and the native title holder has exclusive native title rights - email nativetitleservices@nrmmrrd.qld.gov.au to understand if the area is impacted
• the land has been ‘vested’ to another agency and used for a particular purpose.

Other land

You need the landholder’s written consent before fossicking on any land that isn’t specified fossicking land.  To do this, you’ll need to research the landholder and then contact them for permission.

Researching land tenure and ownership details

Land details

You can get information on a land parcel’s tenure and lot on plan number by using GeoResGlobe.

1. Wait for the map to load, then click on Layers.
2. Click Add layers.
3. Browse through the list of layers. Click to the right of a layer to expand the selection. Select the tickbox to the left of a layer to add it to the map. Useful layers include Cadastre layers (for land tenure and land parcel information), Native title and Administrative boundaries (to find the local government).
4. Zoom in to the area of interest using the + tool and/or your mouse.

Ownership details

Once you have the land parcel’s details (e.g. lot on plan number), you can obtain the landholder’s name by requesting a current title search.

You'll need to contact the right person, depending on the land's tenure.

If there's native title over the area, the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations has contact details for native title bodies.

Land tenure	Who to contact
Freehold land	Owner
State land leases, licences and permits to occupy, e.g. Freeholding lease Grazing homestead freeholding lease Grazing homestead perpetual lease (GHPL) Land lease Non-competitive lease Pastoral holding Rolling term lease State lease over a reserve Term lease for pastoral purposes	Leaseholder, permit holder or licence holder
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander land	Trustee or leaseholder
Forest plantations	Licence holder
National parks, conservation parks, wildlife reserves	Fossicking not permitted
Rail corridors	Department of Transport and Main Roads
Reserves	Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development (contact your nearest business centre or call 13 QGOV (13 74 68))
Reserves in the Wet Tropics area	Wet Tropics Management Authority
Resource reserves	Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
Road reserves	Permission not required for collection. No digging allowed. If road is a stock route, contact local council
State forests and state timber reserves	Fossicking not permitted unless GPA over the area
Stock routes	Local council

More information

• Read about GeoResGlobe and access help and tutorials.
• Find out more about Queensland stock routes.