Rules for fossicking
Fossickers must maintain safety, hygiene and a high standard of behaviour during their visits, following the Fossicking Act 1994 and associated regulations.
If you break the law or act against the legislation, you may:
- receive an on-the-spot fine (infringement notice)
- be prosecuted
- have your fossicking licence cancelled.
On this page
What you can fossick for
Your fossicking licence allows you to search for and collect fossicking materials using hand tools and for recreational, tourist and educational purposes only.
Tools you can use
Hand tools such as picks, shovels, hammers, sieves, shakers, hand sluices, electronic detectors (metal detectors) and other similar hand tools can be used.
No machinery is permitted. This includes water sluices with electronic pumps and dredges of any kind.
How far you can dig
You can collect from the surface or by digging, but you must not dig:
- below 2m of the natural ground surface of land
- below 0.5m in streams.
You must not create overhangs and tunnels.
On road reserves, you are not allowed to dig, but you can collect from the surface of the bare ground.
Materials you can collect
You can collect:
- gemstones
- ornamental stones
- mineral specimens
- alluvial gold (including nuggets)
- some fossil specimens.
You can't collect:
- meteorites
- fossils of vertebrate animals.
You don’t need a fossicking licence to search for ‘treasure’ such as lost jewellery and coins on a beach.
General responsibilities
These responsibilities apply to all fossickers, wherever you're fossicking.
While fossicking
You must follow all instructions and directions from an authorised officer while you're fossicking.
Do not:
- destroy or injure any trees
- clear any vegetation except above an actual excavation
- pollute any watercourse, dam or other body of water
- create areas likely to erode
- interfere with any livestock, wildlife or property infrastructure (e.g. windmills, bores, pumps, tanks, fences)
- interfere with any heritage or cultural site
- undermine any banks or dig pits to create any tunnels or overhanging sections
- use any form of electronic machinery, except for an electronic detector (metal detector)—only hand tools are permitted.
When leaving a site
You must:
- refill all excavations
- remove all camping structures
- bury human waste at least 20cm deep and 20m away from the high bank of any watercourse
- remove all rubbish, unless established bins or pits are in the area
- ensure the site is in a safe, tidy and sanitary condition.
Area-specific rules
Depending on where you fossick, there are additional rules you'll need to follow.
Fossicking in watercourses
Within watercourses, you must not:
- excavate within 40m of any bridge, weir or other structure, unless signs indicate otherwise
- excavate on the slopes of banks, or within 3m of the top or toe of banks, where such activities may cause the collapse of the banks
- significantly interrupt or divert the flow of the stream
- cause any significant turbidity (stirring up sediment causing cloudiness in the water) more than 300m downstream
- interfere with any trees or shrubs in the watercourse
- erect any structures in the watercourse.
Sluicing is permitted, but you can't use a motorised pump or machinery.
When you leave:
- refill all excavations
- place excess material so as to minimise disturbance to the channel and significant streamflows.
Designated fossicking lands and areas
Within designated fossicking lands and fossicking areas, you must not:
- erect any permanent or semi-permanent structures
- make any new tracks or roads without approval
- use a weapon, trap or explosive
- operate any generator, radio or other electrical appliance with excessive noise that may annoy other fossickers
- damage any sign or other structure
- light any fire except within a fireplace or a cleared space with a radius of at least 2m
- light a fire if a notice indicates that this is prohibited
- bring any animals if a notice indicates that this is prohibited
- allow any water supply to run to waste
- fossick, camp or light a fire when instructed not to do so temporarily by a sign or authorised officers
Follow any instructions or directions from an authorised officer (for example, showing your fossicking licence, making a site safe, or not entering an area an authorised officer has prohibited fossicking due to hygiene reasons, rehabilitation or other concerns).
You must not drive:
- in an unregistered vehicle or without a licence
- at more than 50km/h
- off a made track or road
- in a hazardous or noisy manner
- in a way that would harm the road surface
On leaving a site, you must make all excavations safe for future fossickers, stock and landholders.
General permission areas
You must comply with any special conditions of access. Check the fossicking area you'd like to visit to see if any special conditions apply.
Selling and trading collected material
You can sell the occasional ‘lucky find’ of a gemstone or sell and trade to hobbyists or through fairs and exhibitions. However, selling through shops or businesses, or as part of making a living, is considered commercial, and requires tenure under the Mineral Resources Act 1989.
If you make more than $100,000 from selling materials you've fossicked, you'll need to pay royalties.
Report an issue
Contact the Mining Community Infoline if unacceptable activities occur.