Landholders could say no to gas and coal mining
A private Senate bill from 2015 would make gas and coal companies get written permission from every owner before they work on private land. It would also ban fracking by companies. It is still sitting in the Senate more than ten years later.
Official name: Landholders’ Right to Refuse (Gas and Coal) Bill 2015
- Gas and coal companies would need written permission from every owner or occupier before going onto land to explore or mine.
- The permission paper would have to include a report from an outside expert on the risks to the land and underground water.
- Landholders could sue a company that came on without permission. The company would usually pay their legal costs.
- Companies would be banned from fracking for coal seam gas, shale gas and tight gas.
- The bill has died and been brought back five times since 2015. It has never been voted on.
Who it affects
- Farmers and other landholders: They could refuse to let gas or coal companies onto their land, and sue if a company came on anyway.
- Gas and coal companies: They would need signed permission from every owner for new work, and could no longer frack.
- Environment groups: They could ask the Federal Court, a national court, to stop a company fracking.
- Companies already exploring or mining: Work already under way when the law starts could keep going without new permission.
Miners can enter private land
Senator Larissa Waters, from the Greens party, brought this bill into the Senate on 4 March 2015. The Senate is the second house of Parliament, which checks bills.
It is a private bill. That is a bill brought in by a member of Parliament who is not a minister.
Federal, state or territory laws can give companies the right to search for gas and coal and to mine it. This bill would add one more step. A company would also need the landholder's written permission.
The bill says it would give landholders the right to refuse gas and coal mining on their land. It would also ban fracking by companies. Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing. It means cracking rock with fluid under high pressure to free gas.
Who and what it covers
The bill only covers some companies. These are the trading, money and foreign companies that the Constitution lets the federal Parliament make laws about. The Constitution is Australia's founding rule book.
It covers coal, coal seam gas, shale gas and tight gas. Coal seam gas comes from coal beds underground. Shale gas and tight gas are trapped in hard rock.
Gas or coal mining work means searching for, mining or producing these. That includes turning coal into gas while it is still in the ground.
Land includes rivers, creeks, flooded land, and water on and above the land. It also includes the ground below the surface.
Who counts as a landholder
A person has an ownership interest if they have a legal stake in the land, or a right to live on or use it. That covers owners and people with a legal right to live on the land.
A mining company's own mining rights do not count as an ownership interest. So a company cannot give itself permission.
No mining without written permission
A company would commit a crime if it went onto land, or stayed there, to search for or mine gas or coal without permission. Doing the mining work itself would also be a crime.
The company would be safe only if it held written permission from every person with an ownership interest. If the company is charged, it must point to that permission.
The top fine would be 5,000 penalty units for each day the law is broken. A penalty unit is a set dollar amount, about $364 today. So that is about $1.8 million a day.
Work that started before the law begins would not need permission. Searching that had already begun could carry on. Mining that had already begun could carry on too. A company that had only searched would need permission to start mining.
What permission must say
The permission is called a prior written authorisation. It must name the people involved and the land. It must say what the company plans to do, and when and where.
It must include a report from an outside expert on the risks to the land, now and later. The report must also cover any underground water linked to the land. The permission must have a start date and an end date.
It only counts if it is in writing, and signed and dated by the landholder. The company must also tell the landholder in writing that they can refuse to sign. It must tell them to get advice from someone with no stake in it first.
Say a gas company wants to drill on a family's cattle farm. Before it could set foot there, it would need to give the family a risk report. It would need to tell them they can say no. If the farm has three owners, all three would need to sign.
Landholders could sue
A landholder could sue a company that came onto their land, or mined there, without their permission. They would have 6 years to start the case.
The court could order an injunction, which is an order to stop. It could make a quick short-term one too.
The company would have to pay all of the landholder's legal costs. There would be two exceptions. One is if the case was brought just to cause trouble. The other is if paying would be unfair.
A ban on fracking
Fracking means pumping fluid at high pressure down a well to crack rock or widen cracks. That lets gas flow out. The bill would ban companies from fracking for coal seam gas, shale gas or tight gas.
Breaking the ban would bring a fine set by a court. It would not mean a criminal record. The top fine would be 50,000 penalty units, about $18.2 million today.
The Environment Minister could ask the Federal Court to order the fine within 6 years. The court would look at how serious it was, the harm done and whether the company had done it before.
The Environment Minister, or anyone affected, could ask the Federal Court to stop fracking. So could people and groups who worked to protect or study the environment in the past 2 years. The court could also order the company to repair damage.
People who help or plan a breach of the ban would be treated as if they did it. Acts by staff and people acting for the company would count as acts of the company. Companies working together on one project would each have to follow the law.
Fitting with state laws
The bill says it would not cancel any state or territory law that can work alongside it.
It would apply to governments themselves. It would also apply in Australia's territories outside the mainland, such as islands.
Waiting in the Senate
The law would start the day after the Governor-General signs it. The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia.
The bill was brought in, and debate on its main idea began, on 4 March 2015. The Senate debated it once, on 24 November 2016.
It has died five times when Parliament was paused or ended. That happened in 2016, in 2016 again, in 2019, in 2022 and in 2025. Each time it was put back on the Senate's list of business. The latest time was 23 July 2025.
It is still before the Senate and has never been voted on. To become law, it would need to pass the Senate and then the House of Representatives.
Its journey through Parliament
| 04 Mar 2015 | Senate: Introduced and read a first time |
| 04 Mar 2015 | Senate: Second reading moved |
| 17 Apr 2016 | Senate: Lapsed at prorogation |
| 19 Apr 2016 | Senate: Restored to Notice Paper |
| 09 May 2016 | Senate: Lapsed at dissolution |
| 31 Aug 2016 | Senate: Restored to Notice Paper |
| 24 Nov 2016 | Senate: Second reading debate |
| 01 Jul 2019 | Senate: Lapsed at end of Parliament |
| 31 Jul 2019 | Senate: Restored to Notice Paper |
| 25 Jul 2022 | Senate: Lapsed at end of Parliament |
| 27 Jul 2022 | Senate: Restored to Notice Paper |
| 21 Jul 2025 | Senate: Lapsed at end of Parliament |
| 23 Jul 2025 | Senate: Restored to Notice Paper |