State Rural Leasehold Land Strategy
The State Rural Leasehold Land Strategy is a framework of legislation, policies and guidelines supporting the environmentally sustainable, productive use of rural leasehold land for agribusiness.
In collaboration with key stakeholders, the department has developed a suite of practical measures to achieve sustainable land management, including guidelines for assessing rural leasehold land condition that build on the principles of the Land Act 1994, including the statutory duty of care and provisions relating to land degradation.
- State Rural Leasehold Land Strategy (PDF, 465K)*
- State Rural Leasehold Land Strategy—Guidelines for determining lease land condition (PDF, 428K)*
What is ‘rural leasehold land’
Rural leasehold land is State land that is leased for agriculture or grazing. It does not include lease land that is within a reserve, State forest, timber reserve, national park, conservation park, resources reserve or forest reserve.
The State Rural Leasehold Land Strategy clarifies the duty of care obligations of all holders of rural leasehold land; however, its primary focus is on the sustainable management of rural leases with terms of 20 years or more and covering an area of 100 hectares or more.
What the Agreement will achieve
The State Rural Leasehold Land Strategy (PDF, 465K)* assists land managers to balance using the land profitably with maintaining healthy land condition and adapting farming practices to address challenges such as climate change.
Using a mixture of incentives and legal remedies, the framework introduces benefits to stakeholders by:
- providing security of tenure through longer lease terms
- clarifying duty of care where this has previously not been defined
- enabling lease land condition to be assessed using scientifically based guidlines
- introducing land management agreements to guide ongoing land management
- promoting voluntary conservation agreements and Indigenous access to State rural leasehold land for traditional purposes.
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Last updated 1 February 2013
