Amendments to facilitate project delivery in Queensland

The State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 (the Bill) has passed the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was originally introduced on 2 June 2026, before resuming in the Legislative Assembly on 26 August 2026, passing with twelve government amendments. The Bill now awaits Royal Assent before becoming law.

The Bill amends the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (Qld) (SDPWO Act) and is designed to assist with the timely and efficient delivery of specified projects, facilitate land access for private proponents, and update and amend existing processes.

Key takeaways 

• The Bill introduces a new State Strategic Projects framework with ministerial powers to fast-track project delivery through State Significance Notices, Modification Orders, and compulsory acquisition provisions.
• Safeguards are included to protect Indigenous rights and interests, and key authorisation requirements from being overridden.
• Renewables projects and data centres are specifically excluded from being able to access the State Strategic Projects framework.
• The reforms signal a shift towards increased ministerial powers to facilitate certain projects in Queensland, which is expected to accelerate delivery timelines, but may also reshape how proponents, landowners, and regulators engage throughout the approvals process.

New ‘State Strategic Projects’ Framework

The Bill replaces the former ‘critical infrastructure project’ designation with ‘State Strategic Projects’, which are projects of the greatest importance to the State in terms of economic, environmental, or social objectives. State Strategic Projects are a subset of the broader ‘prescribed projects’ category which already exists under the SDPWO Act; all State Strategic Projects are prescribed projects (but not all prescribed projects will be State Strategic Projects).

 The Minister must be satisfied of certain criteria in a new section 76EB(1)(a) or (1)(b) to be able to declare a project to be a State Strategic Project. The designation allows for new facilitation tools to apply to the project, including State Significance Notices, Modification Orders, enabling works access authorities, compulsory acquisition provisions, and expanded strategic infrastructure easements.

A new restriction was inserted into proposed section 76EB so that, despite this general declaration power, the Minister cannot declare a project to be a State Strategic Project if it is:

• A development for a solar farm, wind farm, or battery storage facility prescribed under section 106T of the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) as development requiring a social impact assessment; or 
• A data centre operated for research and development, a commercial purpose, or a purpose prescribed by regulation.

This means that most renewable energy projects that are subject to a social impact assessment requirement under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld), and data centres, cannot benefit from the State Strategic Project fast-tracking framework. The government stated this was to preserve the integrity of its commitment to ensure renewable energy projects remain impact assessable, and to allow time for appropriate planning settings regulating data centres to be developed.

State Significance Notices

Where a State Strategic Project requires statutory approval under another Act, the Minister may issue a State Significance Notice to the authority responsible for that approval decision, and to the project proponent. Once a notice is issued, the decision-maker must make their approval decision in consultation with the Minister and consider:

• the purposes of the new Part 5A of the SDPWO Act; and 
• the matters set out by the Minister in the notice.

This is intended to allow consideration of notice matters even where the relevant law would otherwise limit the considerations available to the decision-maker. 

The notice triggers a new structured consultation process, where the decision-maker must provide a proposed decision and conditions to the Minister, including how the notice matters were considered. The Minister may then provide advice (or is taken to have no advice if a response is not provided within 15 business days), with the ultimate decision to be made on the day stated by the Minister.

Third-party merits review and appeal rights in respect of decisions subject to a State Significance Notice are restricted; a person other than the applicant generally cannot seek review or appeal of a decision to the extent it retains the approval. The applicant retains appeal rights, including against conditions.

The Minister’s decisions to give a State Significance Notice and to issue the relevant advice notice are excluded from Judicial Review Act 1991 (Qld) review, however the Supreme Court’s inherent jurisdiction is retained. The underlying decision itself remains open to judicial review.

Modification Order Powers 

The Bill introduces Modification Order powers, enabling regulations to modify or disapply legislation for State Strategic Projects, including by providing that stated provisions of an Act do not apply, or apply with stated modifications. Such orders may include conditions, duration and transitional matters. The rationale of these powers is to address ‘duplicative, unanticipated, or unreasonable’ statutory requirements or processes that impede timely progression of projects of State significance.

The Minister may only recommend to the Governor in Council to make a Modification Order if satisfied it is in the State interest, and necessary to reduce duplication, or to exclude or modify processes that do not appropriately provide for the project, and only if environmental effects and impacts on the object of the affected law are appropriately managed or justified. 

Section 76RI(2) requires the Minister to consult with certain persons prior to recommending the order to the Governor in Council, however the nature and extent of this consultation is not prescribed. 

Key limitations on Modification Order powers include that:

• Orders cannot override requirements for ‘key authorisations’, which are defined as:
  • an environmental authority under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld);
  • a resource authority within the meaning of section 10 of the Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Act 2014 (Qld); 
  • a development approval under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld); 
  • a cultural heritage management plan under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) or the Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld); and
  • a regional interests development approval (RIDA) under the Regional Planning Interests Act 2014 (Qld).
• Orders cannot modify bilateral EPBC assessment processes in certain circumstances; 
• Orders cannot interfere with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights and interests; and 
• Orders cannot generally modify or exclude State taxes, royalties, or fees.

Modification orders can only affect appeal and review rights in limited circumstances, must preserve the applicant’s appeal rights, and cannot exclude or modify the Judicial Review Act 1991 (Qld). 

Since Modification Orders are subordinate legislation, they must be tabled in the Legislative Assembly and are subject to Parliament’s scrutiny and may ultimately be disallowed under section 50 of the Statutory Instruments Act 1992 (Qld).

Infrastructure coordination plans

The amendments repeal the former Part 5 of the SDPWO Act (Prescribed development), replacing it with a new Part 5 focused on investigating infrastructure needs for resource projects and preparing and implementing infrastructure coordination plans focused on extracting or dealing with minerals or energy resources of the State and associated infrastructure.

The framework begins with a development investigation, where the Minister may direct the Coordinator-General to carry out an investigation in relation to a resource project. Once directed, the Coordinator-General must publish an investigation notice in the Gazette and give notice to specified affected persons (including infrastructure providers, proponents, and planning actors). Where necessary, the Coordinator-General has powers to undertake investigation activities on land, including survey, data gathering and analysis.

Following the investigation, the Coordinator-General must prepare a report setting out the findings of the investigation, addressing the infrastructure demand and need generated by the project, and including a recommendation on whether an infrastructure coordination plan should be made. Affected persons must be provided with the report, with an opportunity for submissions to be made. Submissions must be considered before the final report is provided to the Minister.

After receiving the report, the Minister decides whether to direct preparation of an infrastructure coordination plan. The Minister can direct for a plan to be prepared if satisfied that the projects are of major economic significance, likely to generate infrastructure demand or need, and where coordination would be in the State’s interest.

The infrastructure coordination plan must:

• Identify the relevant resource projects and their locations, the parties involved in implementation, and the infrastructure forming part of the plan; 
• State coordination methods;
• State future steps (including possible further investigations or business cases);
• Require plan parties to take reasonable steps to comply with plan obligations; and 
• State when the plan ceases to have effect.

Before a plan takes effect, the Coordinator-General must consult on a draft plan with identified plan parties, relevant decision-makers, and applicants for referred planning applications. Plans are approved by regulation on the Minister’s recommendation to the Governor in Council. 

State Development Area Changes

Approved development schemes can be extended to regulate certain developments outside the State Development Area (SDA) if it is identified as SDA-related development. Schemes can include processes for subdivision approvals and circumstances for accepting SDA applications. A new SDA-related development declaration pathway will allow the Coordinator-General to regulate development outside an SDA boundary where other laws would adversely affect delivery, the development is infrastructure for the SDA or is necessary or desirable to achieve SDA purposes but cannot reasonably be located within the SDA.

Where development ceases to be regulated by an SDA development scheme, existing SDA approvals are converted to development approvals under the Planning Act 2016 (Qld). Converted SDA approvals retain their conditions (even where those conditions could not have been imposed under the Planning Act), and merits appeal rights against the approval or its conditions remain excluded, with limited pathways preserved for change and extension applications and declaratory proceedings by enforcement authorities.

Land Access, Enabling Works and Compulsory Acquisition

A new structured framework of land access rights for project proponents will be introduced, with different powers available depending on whether a project has been declared solely as a prescribed project, or as a State Strategic Project. 

• Prescribed projects: Proponents may apply for access authorities to enter land (including private land), for the purpose of investigating its suitability for a project. Such an application can only be made where, despite reasonable efforts, the proponent has been unable to negotiate entry with the landowner. The land covered in an access authority may include the project land itself, but also other land that may affect the project’s development.
• State Strategic Projects: Proponents may apply for an access authority specifically authorising enabling works on privately owned land where the proponent considers those works are necessary (having regard to their minor and temporary nature), and where reasonable negotiations with the landowner have failed. This is intended as a last resort; the power is a backstop where good faith attempts to agree on access have broken down, not a substitute for negotiation. An access authority authorising enabling works may only be granted with the approval of the Governor in Council. Approval requires satisfaction that the works will not unreasonably interfere with the landowner’s use of the land. 

Where land is to be compulsorily acquired for a State Strategic Project, the Bill requires the proponent to make genuine attempts to negotiate with each registered landowner for at least six months and to take reasonable steps to purchase by agreement. Landowners retain consultation, objection and compensation rights under the Acquisition of Land Act 1967 (Qld).

Strategic Infrastructure Easements 

Critical Infrastructure Easements have become Strategic Infrastructure Easements, and their use has been expanded for purposes other than to provide a public utility service – but only if the Governor in Council has approved an instrument of easement for the land.

Coordinated Project Conditioning for RIDA and Transport Infrastructure Agreements 

For RIDAs under the Regional Planning Interests Act 2014 (Qld), the Bill streamlines the relationship between the coordinated project Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or Impact Assessment Report (IAR) process, and the RIDA application process. Now, properly made EIS or IAR submissions will be treated as submissions for the RIDA application to remove duplication. The Coordinator-General’s report may direct approval or refusal of the RIDA and state conditions, with these conditions prevailing to the extent of any inconsistency with chief executive conditions.

If you want to understand how the amendments to the SDPWO Act may impact your existing or future projects, we encourage you to reach out to us and we would be happy to discuss.