Our role as a regulator

We are committed to managing Queensland’s land, vegetation, and mineral resources responsibly, fostering economic prosperity while ensuring fair and equitable outcomes. Each year, we prioritise key areas within these sectors to maintain a regulatory approach that is both targeted and proportionate. We administer relevant laws and promote compliance, and as a result we provide Queenslanders with confidence in the transparent and fair management of these vital resources.

Find out more in our:

Land resources

Our compliance focus areas for native vegetation management and use of state land

Georesources

Our compliance focus areas for fossicking, and mineral, coal, petroleum and gas exploration and production

Our regulatory approach

Our regulatory approach is built on 5 key strategies: guide, inform, enable, monitor and enforce.

We encourage voluntary compliance by providing education, clear information, targeted activities, and meaningful stakeholder engagement, while also reinforcing good practices.

When non-compliance occurs, we respond in accordance with our regulatory principles: proportionate, consistent, in the public interest, proactive, risk-based, outcome-focused, and transparent. This ensures our regulation remains effective, fair, and accountable to the public.

We respect, protect and promote human rights. Under the Human Rights Act 2019, the department and its officers have an obligation to act and make decisions in a way that is compatible with human rights and, when making a decision, consider human rights.

Regulatory Strategy 2025–29

Our Regulatory Strategy 2025–29 (PDF, 135KB) outlines our objectives and commitments for the next 4 years.

Our regulatory priorities

We take a proactive, risk-based approach to direct our regulatory efforts towards compliance and assurance activities, aligning with departmental priorities, key risks, and lessons learned from past experiences. This approach ensures transparency in fulfilling our responsibility to manage Queensland’s land, vegetation, and mineral resources, while also providing strategic oversight to the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA).

Each year, the department establishes its regulatory priorities, which encompass strategic regulatory focus areas and regulatory improvement activities.

How we manage and support regulation

We aim to be an outcomes-focused regulator, aligning compliance outcomes with broader strategic objectives. These outcomes shape every aspect of our compliance planning and regulatory activities. To support this, we prioritise developing a skilled, knowledgeable, and innovative workforce through targeted training and support, fostering expertise, collaboration, and strong leadership.

Monitoring, reporting and evaluating our regulatory activities

We employ a variety of methods to monitor compliance, including data analytics, satellite imagery, audits, and inspections. These tools enable us to identify high-risk areas, respond effectively, and adapt to emerging trends.

Developing our regulatory maturity

Each year, we evaluate our progress to ensure continuous improvement and maturity as a regulator. This includes assessing our performance against the Regulator Performance Framework and reporting to the Office of Best Practice Regulation within the Queensland Productivity Commission. Insights from this evaluation process guide our future focus, including the regulatory improvement activities outlined in our regulatory priorities 2025–26 (PDF, 281KB).

Regulatory memberships

We leverage tools and resources available through our memberships with the Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT) and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) National Regulators Community of Practice to strengthen our development as a best-practice regulator.

More information

Last updated: 22 July 2026
Last reviewed: 21 February 2023