Description
The WA Branch of the Energy and Resources Law Association (ER Law) made submissions to the WA Government about proposed amendments to WA’s Mining Act. The submissions were also sent to all members of the Resources Industry Consultative Committee, which is coordinated by the Department. ER Law has been informed by the Department that the submission will be made publicly available.The submission, in PDF format, can be downloaded at https://erlaw.org.au/er-law-wa-submissions-on-mining-law-amendments/ . A summary is extracted below.
To summarise ER Law’s concerns with the proposed amendments:
• They reduce the Warden's decision-making powers in forfeiture and restoration matters.
• The rationale of the existing law in having the decision-making powers (rather than just the power to make recommendations to the Minister) sit with Wardens in respect of prospecting and miscellaneous licences is that these tenements are granted by the Warden (not the Minister).
• The Wardens have an important accountability and efficiency role in WA’s mining regulation;
• Recent decisions by the Wardens regarding forfeitures and penalties have enabled greater transparency and predictability as to how the relevant sections of the Mining Act 1978 (WA) (Mining Act) will be applied, and serve to encourage compliance by tenement holders with the Mining Act and their tenement conditions, both of which are to the advantage of the industry as a whole.
• More significantly, these decisions have identified significant concerns about the approach to non-compliance by the Department and Minister, highlighting instances of no action, nominal fines, and a response from various actors to ignore or build the nominal fines in as a business cost. Nothing in the proposed changes indicate any change to those practices, and will instead simply move the decision making away from the current transparency of the Warden to the Department, which would seem to be the opposite of what the Wardens are urging (based on their interpretation of the Mining Act).
• Legislative changes such as this require comprehensive analysis and consultation and should not be rushed . The broader effect of such proposals would, we suggest, require a Regulatory Impact Statement under Treasury’s Better Regulation Program.”
| Period | 19 Jun 2025 |
|---|---|
| Work for | Energy and Resources Law Association, Australia |