Welcome to the Queensland land access and project approvals 2025 year in review
In this publication, we highlight the key legislative, policy and judicial developments relating to land access and project approvals in Queensland.
Notably, in the past 12 months we have seen:
- dramatic changes to Queensland's planning framework for renewable energy projects, with new requirements for social impact assessments, community benefit agreements and public notification mandating a significantly different approval pathway for wind and solar developments;
- continued reform of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld), including the proposed introduction of ERA codes as an alternative to environmental authorities, extended prosecution timeframes and amendments to the transitional PRCP provisions;
- the release of the Queensland Energy Roadmap 2025, signalling a departure from the previous Government's 2022 Energy and Jobs Plan, with a renewed focus on leveraging coal and gas assets alongside the transition to net-zero emissions by 2050;
- new regulations under the Mineral Resources Act 1989 (Qld), including the separation of royalty provisions into a standalone regulation and the creation of a rent deferral framework for resource authority holders experiencing hardship;
- a number of significant Land Court decisions, including on greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, human rights considerations in mining lease applications, material changes in circumstances for compensation review and disclosure requirements; and
- the Queensland Supreme Court provide important guidance on the biosecurity management plan exemption for resource authority holders.
This year, we have also seen local governments move swiftly to introduce their own community benefit agreement policies in response to the new planning framework, while Coexistence Queensland released new guidance for landholders on the decommissioning of renewable energy projects.
Contents
- Key developments in the Queensland access space
- New Community Benefit System means additional challenges for renewables in Queensland
- Queensland environmental reform continues
- Supreme Court provides guidance on landholder biosecurity management plan exemption for resources sector
- Land Court developments in 2025
We encourage you to reach out to us if you would like to discuss any aspect of this publication.
The articles in this publication are current as at 23 March 2026.
