Reforms to reflect a modern resources era

Resource exploration and development is vital to Queensland's economy, significantly contributing to the long-term economic stability and prosperity of the state.

The Streamlining mining and petroleum tenure approvals project is a key initiative to support the drive for more investment and jobs in the Queensland resources sector.

Government and industry have been working together to identify opportunities to streamline the assessment process and develop solutions.

October 2011 - the GIIG Report

The Government and Industry Implementation Group (GIIG) report On the right track - Progress on the Streamlining Mining and Petroleum Approvals Project is the outcome of this collaboration with a commitment to work together to transform processes and drive through reforms to achieve time savings.

GIIG working groups focused on five key areas:

• environment
• legislation
• native title
• small-scale mining and
• tenures.

A priority for all working groups was to look for improvements to deliver an efficient and effective regulatory approvals process. In doing so, they discovered opportunities to reduce project assessment timeframes while maintaining the rigour of environmental, native title and land use assessments. As a direct result, the GIIG report establishes target assessment timeframes and has set ambitious goals to be realised once all the streamlining initiatives have been implemented.

By early 2012 the Government will have released a client portal to provide direct industry access to its applications and assessment status. This will provide the transparency industry is seeking, and will reduce enquiries to regulatory agencies. More importantly, industry will be able to see all applications and active dealings going through the regulatory approvals system.

Future system improvements, delivered progressively over several years, will enable industry the ability to fully manage their applications online. The ultimate goal is full system-to-system integration between DEEDI and DERM (Department of Environment and Resource Management), that will deliver a ´whole of mines´ view for the resource sector.

These initiatives are a key outcome from the positive collaboration between Government and Industry.

Why was the GIIG established?

In January 2009, at the direction of the Premier, the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) began work to streamline Queensland's mining and petroleum exploration and development approval processes.

In November 2009 the Streamlining Approvals Project - Mining and Petroleum Tenures Approval Process report (PDF, 391 kB) was released, identifying recommendations for regulatory reform as part of the Streamlining Mining and Petroleum Tenure Approvals Project.

The Government established an Industry Working Party to review the efficiency of Government tenure approval and regulatory processes as part of the Streamlining Mining and Petroleum Tenure Approvals Project.

In April 2010, the Industry Working Party submitted its findings in a report titled Supporting resource sector growth - Industry Proposals for Streamlining Queensland's Approval Processes (PDF, 1.5MB).

The Industry Working Party included representation from exploration, mining and petroleum leaders and has provided valuable input to reduce red tape and improve the efficiency and transparency of approval processes for mining and petroleum through best practice processes to support future industry growth.

The GIIG was established to review both the Industry Working Party submission and the Government´s Streamlining Mining and Petroleum Tenure Approvals Project report, and to develop an implementation plan to deliver upon the recommendations and to assist in maintaining the necessary momentum to deliver a world class tenure approval system.

For more information about the Streamlining Project email mines_online@deedi.qld.gov.au