Regional Planning Interests (Condamine Alluvium) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026

The Queensland Government is proposing legislative amendments relating to the regulation of coal seam gas (CSG) in the Condamine Alluvium through the Regional Planning Interests (Condamine Alluvium) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026.

The Bill proposes changes to deliver the Queensland Government commitment to require gas companies to demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that new projects would not have a detrimental impact on the Condamine Alluvium, a large and significant water aquifer used for agricultural purposes.

Changes are proposed to the following legislative frameworks:

• Regional Planning Interests Act 2014 (RPI Act)
• Regional Planning Interests Regulation 2014 (RPI Regulation)
• Environmental Protection Act 1994
• Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Act 2014.

The strategic objectives of the Bill are to:

• enhance the environmental authority (EA) process to ensure the water quality of the Condamine Alluvium is protected from new coal seam gas (CSG) projects
• address landholder concerns by expanding compensation for CSG-induced subsidence impacts, including new off-tenure compensation liability
• streamline CSG approvals by removing the regional interests development approval requirement and shifting assessment to the robust and familiar EA process which will front-load the approval process for industry proponents and provide clarity to landholders.

Next steps

On 25 March, the Regional Planning Interests (Condamine Alluvium) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 was introduced to Queensland Parliament for consideration.

A copy of the Bill is available for review on the Queensland Legislation website. The Bill has been referred to the Primary Industries and Resources Committee for detailed consideration. More information about the committee  can be found on the Queensland Parliament website.

Following the Committee process, the Government will consider the Committee’s report and recommendations, after which the Bill will return to the Queensland Parliament for further consideration.

Supporting information