RPI Amendment Bill 2026: Impacts on land access, compensation and project planning in the Condamine Alluvium

The Queensland Government has introduced the Regional Planning Interests (Condamine Alluvium) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 (the RPI Bill), proposing significant reforms to the regulation of coal seam gas (CSG) activities in the Condamine Alluvium. The package of reforms represents a decisive shift toward heightened environmental safeguards, strengthened landholder rights and a streamlined approvals framework.

The Condamine Alluvium, one of Queensland’s most productive groundwater systems and a critical resource for agriculture, sits at the centre of these legislative reforms. The stated purpose of the RPI Bill is to ensure that future CSG development within this sensitive aquifer can only proceed where it can be demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that it poses no long term detriment to water quality, land use or agricultural productivity.

Strengthened environmental protections under the EP Act

The RPI Bill inserts s 206(2A) to the Environmental Protection Act (the EP Act), inserting a mandatory ‘deemed condition’ into all environmental authorities (EAs) issued for new CSG activities within the ‘Condamine Alluvium CSG area’.¹ The condition will prohibit the release of contaminants (such as heavy metals, chemicals and gases) from well operations into waters of the Condamine Alluvium that would cause water quality to drop below standards prescribed under the Environmental Protection (Water and Wetland Biodiversity) Policy 2019, among others.

This prohibition of contamination by the ‘operation of a well’ will apply across the entire lifecycle of a CSG well, as ‘operations’ are defined to include drilling, completion, operation, suspension and decommissioning activities. Existing offence provisions under the EP Act in relation to the contravention of an environmental condition will continue to apply.

Transitional treatment of existing CSG wells

The new deemed condition will not apply to existing authorised CSG wells or wells that are the subject of an EA application lodged before commencement. Further, the deemed condition will not apply if the pre-commencement EA authorising the well is later amended to expand, or otherwise change the stages of the operation of the well, or where the EA is replaced by a new EA. The deemed condition will also not apply to existing authorities that are transferred from one holder to another.

Stronger landholder rights and compensation under the MERCP Act

The RPI Bill introduces notable amendments to the Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Act 2014 (MERCP Act), focussed on enhancing landholder protections.

Directional drilling deemed an “advanced activity”

Drilling of deviated wells beneath a landholder’s property will now be deemed to be an ‘advanced activity’ under the MERCP Act, requiring CSG resource authority holders to negotiate a conduct and compensation agreement (CCA), or other voluntary agreement with the landholder before undertaking new CSG directional drilling under their land.

Existing CCAs or other voluntary agreements will remain in effect and will be recognised under transitional provisions.

New subsidence compensation framework

The Bill creates a statutory obligation for CSG proponents to compensate landholders for subsidence-related impacts, including ground movement, reduced land value, loss of use, and reduced agricultural productivity.

Subsidence compensation liability for CSG proponents arises where land within the Condamine Alluvium CSG area is affected by CSG activities. Authority holders will be liable to compensate affected landholders for each ‘subsidence compensatable effect’, which are defined to include s 81 compensatable effects resulting from the impact of CSG-induced subsidence that:

1. is caused by CSG activities, whether or not those activities have been carried out on the affected land; and
2. affects the ability to carry out agricultural activities, or the productivity of those activities, on the affected land.

The new provisions will operate in parallel to the existing compensation regime; the ‘general liability to compensate’ under s 81 of the MERCP Act, which covers non-subsidence related compensatable effects on a landholder’s land.

Subsidence compensation liability will be payable for affected land within the boundaries of the relevant CSG tenure, and also within an area up to 5 kilometres outside the tenement’s boundaries.

The Land Court will have jurisdiction to hear disputes between proponents and landholders concerning subsidence compensation.

Streamlining approvals: Removing RIDA requirements

The RPI Bill amends the Regional Planning Interests Act 2014 (Qld), removing the requirement for a Regional Interests Development Approval (RIDA) for CSG activities in the Condamine Alluvium CSG area. Instead, the environmental authority process under the EP Act will now be the primary assessment mechanism.

Implications for proponents

The RPI Bill represents one of the most targeted regulatory responses to CSG development seen in Queensland in recent years. For proponents, the Bill introduces more stringent environmental controls and heightened obligations to engage with and compensate landholders. At the same time, the removal of the RIDA layer may simplify and remove duplication from the current approvals process.

Proponents should review mapping of the Condamine Alluvium CSG Area to confirm whether their project will be impacted by the changes. A preliminary map of Condamine Alluvium CSG area has been made available on the Planning Queensland website.²

We will continue to monitor the Bill as it progresses and continue to keep proponents informed.

¹ The Condamine Alluvium CSG area is defined as ‘…all or part of the aquifer known as the Condamine Alluvium’. A map of the aquifer will be published on the Department’s website in due course.
² https://www.planning.qld.gov.a...