Key takeaways
The prescribed ERC amount has increased from $100,000 to $10 million. Holders of environmental authorities with an ERC of at least $100,000 but less than $10 million (where no election notice has been given) will no longer be subject to risk category allocation or annual review, and will need to provide surety.
Resources EAs that are subject to risk assessment will be given an “annual review allocation day” by the Scheme Manager.
A new risk category of moderate-high is added. The contribution rate for the moderate-high category is 6.5%.
The Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Act 2018 (Qld) (MERFP Act) establishes the framework under which the holders of environmental authorities for resource activities (resources EAs) may provide surety or pay contributions into the Financial Provisioning Scheme, to manage the financial risk to the State if the holder fails to meet their environmental rehabilitation obligations.
The amount of any surety or contribution is calculated based on the estimated rehabilitation cost (ERC) for the resources EA.
The MERFP Act was amended by the Mineral and Energy Resources and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (Qld) (MEROLA Act). Although the MEROLA Act was assented to on 18 June 2024, the amendments to the MERFP Act were postponed, and only commenced on 1 October 2025. The Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Regulation 2019 has also been amended from 1 October 2025.
These amendments were informed by the Post Transition Review of the Financial Provisioning Scheme. The Scheme Manager has prepared updated guidelines and information to reflect these changes.
A summary of the key changes is below.
Increase to prescribed ERC amount
The prescribed ERC amount is increased from $100,000 to $10 million.
Where the ERC for a resources EA is at least $100,000 but less than $10 million, the EA will no longer be subject to an initial allocation or annual review of risk category allocation, unless an election notice applies.
An election notice is given by the scheme manager if the holder meets the relevant requirements under the MERFP Act and elects to have the resources EA continue to be risk assessed.
Under the transitional provisions, holders of resources EAs with an ERC of at least $100,000 but less than $10 million allocated to a risk category other than high, will be sent a notice asking them to elect whether to remain in the risk assessment process.
Holders of resources EAs with an ERC below $10 million and a current risk category allocation of high are not eligible for an election notice. These holders are expected to have already provided surety, and will no longer be required to participate in the annual review of risk category allocation.
New risk category of moderate-high
The amendments introduce a new risk category of “moderate-high”. Resources EA holders in the moderate-high category may make a contribution to the scheme fund, calculated based on 6.5% of the ERC.
Change to contribution percentage – moderate risk category
The prescribed percentage for calculating the contribution for resources EA holders in the risk category of moderate has been reduced from 2.75% to 2.25%.
The prescribed percentages for the various risk categories are now as follows:
Risk category | Prescribed percentage |
Very low | 0.5% |
Low | 1.0% |
Moderate | 2.25% |
Moderate-high | 6.5% |
Annual review allocation day
The MERFP Act has been updated to include a new concept of an “annual review allocation day”, which allows multiple resources EAs to be risk assessed together.
Under the transitional provisions, the scheme manager must, within 30 business days of the commencement (by 13 November 2025) decide and notify relevant resources EA holders with an ERC of $10 million or above of their annual review allocation day. Guidance from the Scheme Manager indicates that determining the annual review allocation date will be based on the principle that an entity’s audited financial statements are considered current within nine (9) months of the reporting date, after which more current management accounts are required to undertake a risk assessment.
The holder of a resources EA may also apply to the scheme manager to change the annual review allocation day for the EA to another day.
Updates to fund threshold
The fund threshold for the Financial Provisioning Scheme acts to limit the exposure of the scheme from one particular entity or corporate group. This was originally set at $450 million, representing approximately 5% of the total ERC in Queensland.
The MERFP Act is amended to provide for a two-tiered fund threshold, of $600 million for entities with a prescribed credit rating of BBB+, remaining at $450 million for all other entities.