Taroom Trough coal seam gas exploration – how to put yourself in the best position as an affected landholder – Part 2

June 18, 2026

Entitlement to compensation and rehabilitation requirements

The Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Act 2014 (Qld) (MERCP Act) is the legal framework that governs coal seam gas exploration in Queensland.

Statutory liability to compensate landholders

Section 81 of the MERCP Act imposes a statutory obligation on resource authority holders to provide compensation for each compensatable effect suffered by an owner or occupier of land (that is either public or private):

• which is within the authorised area of the resource authority; or
• that is accessed by the resource authority holder (and therefore is classed as access land),

Compensatable Effects

A compensatable effect is the legally recognised loss and/ or impact arising from advanced CSG activities which entitle a landholder to compensation, defined in the MERCP Act as:

• deprivation of possession of the land’s surface;
• diminution in the value of the land or the use made, or that may be made, of the land or any improvement on the land;
• any severance of any part or parts of the land or other land the relevant owner or occupier owns;
• any cost, damage or loss arising from the activities (e.g. additional operation costs associated with moving livestock from affected paddocks); and
• any consequential loss arising out of the above.

Landholders should consider including provisions which explicitly require the tenement holder to compensate the landholder at market-value for any livestock injury or death caused by the activities or any loss of any accreditations held (e.g. organic certification).

In assessing the compensatable effects, Landholders also have a right to obtain:

• an independent valuation to assess whether an offer of compensation is reasonable; and
• legal, accounting and agronomy advice,

which the tenement holder must pay the costs of as part of the landholder’s reasonable and necessary costs incurred in negotiating a CCA.

Requirements to rehabilitate

Tenement holders must rehabilitate all areas of the land disturbed by the activities to a safe, stable and non-polluting condition. These requirements are broadly mandated through a set of conditions attached to the environmental authority issued for each ‘project’. However, landholders should consider any specific requirements for rehabilitation (i.e. reseeding of specific grasses and specific burial depths for flowlines and pipelines) and ensure these requirements are in the CCA.

Landholders should push for rehabilitation to be undertaken as soon as reasonably practicable rather than at the end of the term of the agreement or project completion, to avoid drawn out rehabilitation periods.

Impacts on water resources

CSG extraction can pose a risk to the quality and quantity of existing water resources, such as:

• contamination of freshwater aquifers with saline or contaminated water;
• aquifer drawdown;
• well integrity issues which may allow methane gas or fracking fluids to migrate, even after rehabilitation has been complete; and
• surface spills and leaks of wastewater stored in surface pond.

If this is relevant, your CCA should have:

• a baseline assessment of existing water bores on the property undertaken prior to the commencement of any activities to use in the event a landholder considers there is a diminished water supply for the bores as a result of the CSG activities on the land; and
• provisions allowing for water sampling to be undertaken at key intervals to assess any contamination or quality concerns.

Without a baseline assessment of groundwater resources, it is difficult to demonstrate that CSG activities have negatively impacted those resources and seek further compensation or rectification from the tenement holder.

If you have been approached by a tenement holder wanting to undertake preliminary or advanced activities on your property, or you have been issued with a draft CCA, Fox and Thomas can assist you in ensuring the terms of any agreement entered into protects your interests and address any property specific concerns.

Please contact us for further information.