Responsibilities of government

Queensland Government

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is responsible for:

• developing and implementing policies and initiatives to assist the forestry sector in Queensland in collaboration with industry
• managing the commercial sale of state-owned native forest resources and quarry materials from State forests, timber reserves and other relevant lands under the Forestry Act 1959
• collaborative industry research and innovation to improve forestry production performance, wood quality, forest products and processing systems
• administering and ensuring compliance with the plantation licence held by HQPlantations Pty Ltd's over plantation forests on State land.

Other agencies are also responsible for functions related to forestry.

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships in the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) is responsible for the protection and management of State forests, including regulatory and most non-commercial aspects of their management. This includes administering the Code of practice for native forest timber production on the QPWS forest estate 2020 (PDF, 3MB) and auditing of native forest harvesting authorised by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

DESI also has responsibilities for protecting wildlife and habitats, protecting and conserving non-indigenous cultural heritage and protecting environmental values from environmental harm under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992 and the Environmental Protection Act 1994.

The Department of Resources administers legislation relevant to forestry on leasehold land and privately-owned land under the Land Act 1994, the Land Title Act 1994 and the Vegetation Management Act 1999.

The Department of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts has responsibilities for the protection and conservation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage under the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 and the Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Act 2003. In addition, the Native Title (Queensland) Act 1993 requires the recognition and protection of native title.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is responsible for improving workplace health and safety under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, which requires a person conducting a business to provide the highest level of health and safety protection from hazards arising from work. The Forest harvesting code of practice 2007 sets out health and safety standards for forest harvesting activities.

Commonwealth Government

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has a national industry policy development role and some specific legislative responsibilities relating to the forestry and wood products industry.

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water includes a policy development and legislative responsibility relating to environmental protections, including our requirements from the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Local government

Local governments interact with the forestry and wood products industry in a number of ways, particularly through their planning schemes and local government laws about new developments (including plantations and wood processing facilities), vegetation management, local rates and road use.

Refer to the local government directory for more information about the development assessment and planning requirements for new timber plantations in Queensland's local government areas.