Approval of a sublease

Any leaseholder can sublease (or sub-sublease) their land if they meet the requirements and conditions outlined below.

In addition, the proposed holder must be eligible to hold a sublease under the Land Act.

Leases issued under the Land Act 1994 can only be sublet if the Minister for Resources, gives written approval, or you have an appropriate general authority to sublease. If a sublease is approved, the registered owner of the lease will continue to be liable for all lease conditions.

Information provided here also covers sub-subleases.

To be approved, the sublease must:

• be consistent with the purpose and conditions of the lease
• be for a term that is no more than the balance of the lease term, less 1 day
• start no earlier than the date of the ministerial approval.

Requirements are detailed in our Policy on Minister’s approval to sublease (PDF, 25KB).

Leases that can't be sublet

Subleases aren't allowed or won't be supported if:

• the lease contains a condition prohibiting subleases
• the lease is for development purposes issued under the previous Land Act 1962
• the lease requires specific development and the development has not been finalised by the leaseholder
• the Land Act 1994 prohibits subletting the lease
• the lease contains a condition that specifically prohibits subletting.

Rolling term lease extensions

You may have a rolling term lease extension applied and recorded on your title. Once approved and recorded, a sublease can be registered for a term that is no more than the balance of the extended lease term, less 1 day.

Prescribed terms

The prescribed terms framework aims to protect and clarify state and community interests in land that is subject to a trustee lease or trustee lease sublease created under the Land Act 1994.

All subleases of Land Act leases are subject to prescribed terms, whether registered in the Titles Registry or not.

The prescribed terms:

• define the legal requirements for entities holding a sublease of a Land Act lease
• ensure that the state’s interest and public benefit assigned to the land is protected
• apply to subleases of Land Act leases (irrespective of whether the sublease document references the new prescribed terms).

From 1 July 2020, the framework for prescribed terms replaces the mandatory standard terms document 713040803(MSTD) that previously applied to these types of leases.

You must not refer to the MSTD in any sublease of a Land Act lease document lodged for registration in the Titles Registry.

Read more on the prescribed terms contained in Schedule 4 of the Land Regulation 2020.

General authorities

All general authorities for subleasing and the corresponding registered standard terms document (if any) must not refer to MSTD.

You can apply either:

• online
• by printing and completing PDF application forms.

Online applications

To submit your online application, you'll need:

• sketch or plan of the sublease
• draft sublease document
• if the sublease is to be held in trust, a certified copy of the trust document will be required
• if a mortgage is registered over the proposed site, a Titles Queensland form 18 must be obtained from any registered mortgagee.

You, or a legal practitioner on your behalf, must electronically sign the application. It will then automatically be lodged through the online process.

Within the online application, there is a help guide to assist you to complete your application.

PDF applications

To submit your PDF application, you'll need:

• Approval of a sublease (PDF) application form
• Contact and land details (online or PDF ) application form
• a sketch or plan of the sublease
• a draft sublease document
• if the sublease is to be held in trust, a certified copy of the trust document will be required
• if a mortgage is registered over the proposed site, a Titles Queensland form 18 must be obtained from any registered mortgagee.

Once completed, submit your PDF application forms by:

• using the online Part A - Contact and land details application form
• email to SLAMlodgement@resources.qld.gov.au
• post to Department of Resources, PO Box 5318, Townsville QLD 4810.

Lodging this application costs fee 33931 per application. Application fees are non-refundable.

You can pay your application fee:

• via Mastercard or Visa credit card online, for leasing unallocated state land applications made online
• via credit card over the phone for PDF applications. Departmental officer will contact you to organise the payment
• via cheque by post. Cheques should be made out to the 'Department of Resources' and marked 'not negotiable'.

We'll send you a receipt after the online payment or for pdf once we've established that your application meets all requirements.

We'll assess your application against legislative requirements. We'll seek the views of other stakeholders (e.g. state, regional and local agencies) and inspect the land if required.

Policies and legislation

• Land Act 1994
• Land Regulation 2020
• SLM/2013/502 Requirements for Minister’s approval to sublease (PDF, 171KB).

Native title

Our review will also include an assessment of whether native title issues need to be addressed, and how this should be done. Depending on the outcome, you may be required to address native titles issues as a condition of the offer.

Once we have received the advice of other stakeholders and all issues have been investigated, we will send you a written notice of the decision. Your application may be:

• approved
• approved over a reduced area (approved in part)
• refused.

The Minister may give 'in principle' approval for a sublease, which may be subject to conditions.

Registering the sublease

If the sublease is approved, we will provide you with a Titles Registry Form 18—General consent.

For the sublease to be valid, you must register it with the Titles Registry.

Amending a sublease

You can amend a registered sublease with our approval. You'll need to register an amendment to the sublease.

You don't need our approval to amend a sublease if you hold an appropriate general authority to the sublease.=

The amendment must not:

• increase or decrease the area subleased
• add or remove a party to the sublease
• increase the term of the sublease.

Information on this form, and any attachments, is being collected to process and assess your application under section 176K of the Land Act 1994. The consideration of your application may involve consultation, and if so details of your application may be disclosed to third parties. They will not be otherwise disclosed outside the department unless required or authorised by law.

We may wish to contact you to seek your views on our service, to advise you of any legislative changes that might affect you, or to seek your participation in surveys or programs relevant to your application type. Any participation will be voluntary and you can email stateland@resources.qld.gov.au if you don't want the department to contact you.

We may also compile or analyse statistics and conduct research. Any findings we publish won't include identifying personal information.

Under the Right to Information Act 2009, interested parties may seek access to our records and view relevant documents.