Proposed Amendments to the Land Administration Act 1997
On 18 November 2021 the WA Minister for Lands, Tony Buti, announced that the Land Administration Act 1997 (WA) would be amended in 2022 to introduce a new, more flexible form of land tenure for unallocated Crown land and pastoral land known as a ‘diversification lease’.
Currently, the Land Administration Act only permits pastoral and unallocated Crown land to be used for grazing livestock. Pastoral leases in WA are granted for a period of 50 years with an option to renew, which most pastoralists exercise at the end of the lease period. The proposed ‘diversification lease’ will allow pastoralists to extend their pastoral lease for a further 50 years and use their land for other than pastoral purposes including horticulture and renewable projects such as wind farms and carbon sequestration projects.
The Minister has said that this new ‘diversification lease’ will also open up large areas of land for conservation organisations to preserve or rehabilitate biodivsity or for Native Title holders to undertake economic development activities such as cultural tourism.
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