Purpose:

The purpose of this Act is to provide for the dedication, management, and use of State forests and other Crown-timber land for forestry and other purposes, and to constitute the Forestry Corporation of New South Wales as a statutory State owned corporation specifying its objectives and functions.

Objectives:

• To be a successful business, operating efficiently, and maximising the net worth of the State’s investment in the Forestry Corporation.
• To have regard to the interests of the community in which the Forestry Corporation operates.
• To conduct operations in compliance with the principles of ecologically sustainable development where activities affect the environment.
• To contribute towards regional development and decentralisation.
• To be an efficient and environmentally sustainable supplier of timber from Crown-timber land and land owned or controlled by the Forestry Corporation.
• To facilitate public access to forestry areas.
• To promote the recreational use of forestry areas.
• To conserve fauna (other than feral animals) living in forestry areas.
• To facilitate the construction and operation of renewable energy infrastructure in forestry areas used for forestry operations with trees of exotic coniferous species, subject to specific conditions.

Key Provisions:

• Establishment and governance of the Forestry Corporation of New South Wales as a statutory State owned corporation.
• Classification, dedication, and revocation of Crown land as State forest or flora reserves, including provisions for special management zones.
• Management plans for State forests and working plans for flora reserves, ensuring consistency with integrated forestry operations approvals.
• Authority for the Minister to acquire and sell land for State forest purposes, including land exchange agreements.
• Regulation of the taking of timber, forest products, and forest materials through a licensing scheme.
• Imposition and collection of a resource acquisition fee for the taking of timber, forest products, and forest materials.
• Provisions for the land management of forestry areas for non-forestry purposes, including forest permits and leases.
• Establishment of forest agreements and integrated forestry operations approvals to regulate forestry operations on Crown-timber lands, ensuring ecologically sustainable forest management and integrating environmental regulatory regimes.
• Conferral of investigation and enforcement powers on authorised officers for compliance with the Act.
• Provisions for criminal proceedings, penalty notices, and orders for compensation in relation to offences under the Act.

Evidence of Compliance Requirements For Agricultural Organisations:

• Obtaining Licences and Authorisations:
  • Action: Obtain a valid timber licence, forest products licence, forest materials licence, or clearing licence before cutting, stripping, obtaining, removing, destroying, or damaging any timber or forest products on Crown-timber land, or quarrying, digging for, extracting, obtaining, removing, destroying, or damaging any forest materials on State forest or flora reserve.
  • Documentation: Hold the specific licence or authorisation applicable to the activity.
  • Action: If a Crown tenure requires the taking or destruction of timber or forest products, obtain a timber licence, forest products licence, or clearing licence.
  • Action: For small quantity authorisations (timber, forest products, or forest materials having a value of not more than $1,000, or a prescribed amount, on State forest – excluding flora reserves – or Crown land), ensure such authorisation is obtained.
• Complying with Licence and Authorisation Conditions:
  • Action: Comply with all conditions imposed by the Forestry Corporation or prescribed by the regulations for any licence or small quantity authorisation held.
  • Action: Ensure the authority conferred by any licence or small quantity authorisation is exercised subject to the regulations.
  • Action: Obtain the consent of the Forestry Corporation before transferring any licence.
  • Action: When holding a timber, forest products, or forest materials licence in respect of a flora reserve, ensure licence conditions are in accordance with the working plan for that reserve and that the issue of the licence was approved by the Minister.
  • Action: When holding a timber or forest products licence on certain Crown-timber land (not State forest or flora reserve) where trees have been planted or established as a woodlot, for tree-farming, as a windbreak, for beautification, or on substantially improved land where trees are necessary for shade, shelter, farming, improvement, or protection, adhere to conditions preventing the taking of designated or described trees. The restriction for improved farming land extends only to trees having a total timber content not exceeding 150 cubic metres as determined by the Corporation.
  • Action: Do not remove any protected plant or any plant of, or part of, a threatened species or threatened ecological community (within the meaning of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016) from State forest, flora reserve, or other Crown-timber land, unless the removal is subject to a condition that it is undertaken in accordance with any relevant plant plan of management under Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 regulations, or the plant would be damaged or destroyed by authorised activities.
  • Action: For clearing licences issued in respect of Crown-timber land held under a prescribed Crown tenure or purchase-tenure land, ensure the licence is issued to the holder/owner of that tenure/land.
  • Action: For timber or forest products licences on conditional purchase lease land or land with trustees for public purpose, obtain the consent of the lessee or trustees.
  • Action: For small quantity authorisations on conditional purchase lease, closer settlement lease, group purchase lease, settlement purchase lease, or returned soldiers’ special holding, obtain the consent of the lessee.
  • Action: For small quantity authorisations on land with trustees for a public purpose, obtain the consent of the trustees.
• Payment of Resource Acquisition Fees:
  • Action: Pay a resource acquisition fee for timber, forest products, or forest materials taken under a timber licence, forest products licence, or forest materials licence.
  • Payment Standard: The amount of the fee is determined by the Forestry Corporation, subject to any maximum amount prescribed by regulations with the concurrence of the Treasurer.
  • Action/Financial Impact: Be aware that the Corporation may recover, as a debt, a certified amount representing the resource acquisition fee if timber, forest products, or forest materials are taken without lawful authority.
  • Action: Licence holders may enter into agreements with the Forestry Corporation to deduct the cost of constructing necessary works (e.g., roads, bridges, gates, ramps) from their resource acquisition fees.
• Forest Permits and Leases (Non-Forestry Uses):
  • Action: Obtain a forest permit or forest lease from the land manager of a forestry area for non-forestry uses (e.g., recreational, sporting, commercial activities, or renewable energy infrastructure).
  • Action: Pay the fee determined by the land manager for the permit or lease.
  • Action: Comply with all conditions imposed by the land manager or regulations on the forest permit or lease.
  • Action: Obtain the consent of the land manager before transferring any forest permit or lease.
  • Action: When holding a forest permit for grazing or watering horses or cattle, pay such agistment fees as the land manager determines to any existing licensee or lessee under the Crown Land Management Act 2016 or other Crown Land Acts.
  • Action: When holding a forest permit for any other purpose (than grazing/watering), pay such compensation as the Minister determines to any existing licensee or lessee under the Crown Land Management Act 2016 or other Crown Land Acts.
  • Action/Constraint (Renewable Energy Infrastructure): If applying for a permit or lease for renewable energy infrastructure on forestry areas with exotic coniferous species, ensure the proposed activity is consistent with obligations under a sustainable forest management certification scheme (including restrictions on converting forested land to non-forest uses and requirements to support local communities and timber processors with sustainable yield). The activity must not result in premature harvesting that causes failure to meet supply commitments, not result in more than 0.7% of exotic coniferous forestry areas being used for such infrastructure, not result in a net loss of timber, and result in a net gain of land for forestry operations. Any substituted land must be a similar distance from local timber processors, at least twice as large, of the same or greater productive capacity, and have the same or greater average annual rainfall.
• General Conduct and Compliance:
  • Action: Ensure all use of land within a forestry area is conducted with lawful authority; the onus of proving lawful authority rests with the person.
  • Action: Do not possess or discharge a firearm, or possess, place or use a net, trap, snare, hunting device, poison or explosive in a forestry area, or discharge a firearm into a forestry area, or take, kill, hunt, shoot, poison, net, snare, spear, capture, lure or injure an animal in a forestry area, unless authorised by a forest permit/lease, prescribed Crown tenure, restricted game hunting licence, carrying out duties as a land manager employee, or with land manager consent (or self-defence against snakes).
  • Action/Record-keeping: When required by written notice from an authorised officer, furnish information or records (that are in possession or lawfully obtainable) within the specified reasonable time. Ensure information is not false or misleading.
  • Action: Comply with requirements from an authorised officer to state full name and place of residence, or to provide driver licence information (if identification and warning are given).
  • Action: Comply with requirements from an authorised officer to provide information (including written statements) as to the name and place of residence of a motor vehicle driver.
  • Action: Do not obstruct, delay, or hinder an authorised officer in their functions, impersonate an authorised officer, or assault, threaten, or intimidate an authorised officer. Do not offer payments, gratuities, or gifts to authorised officers for official acts.
  • Action/Dispute Resolution: If a thing is seized by an authorised officer, the owner may dispute the seizure by giving written notice to the Minister within 28 days after becoming aware of the seizure.
  • Action: Comply with all requirements imposed by an integrated forestry operations approval. Contravention is an offence subject to significant penalties (up to \(5 million for corporations or \)1 million for individuals if committed intentionally causing significant environmental harm; otherwise \(2 million for corporations or \)500,000 for individuals).
  • Action/Reporting: Be aware that the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) monitors and enforces compliance with integrated forestry operations approvals. The Forestry Corporation must pay annual licence fees to the EPA for this purpose.
  • Action/Record-keeping: If an unauthorised structure is in a forestry area and a notice is displayed/published requiring a claim of authority/interest, deliver a signed written statement to the land manager within 1 month after the notice display/publication period to preserve any claim against removal.
  • Action: For parking offences, if an owner of a vehicle is served a penalty notice or court attendance notice, provide an approved nomination notice with the name and address of the driver within 21 days (or 90 days under Fines Act 1996).
  • Reporting: The Minister prepares an annual report on each forest agreement, including ecologically sustainable forest management and compliance with integrated forestry operations approvals for the region, which is tabled in Parliament. The Forestry Corporation reviews its native timber harvesting and haulage costs every 3 financial years, producing a report for the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, which is then made publicly available by voting shareholders.

Metadata Keywords:

Forestry, Legislation, New South Wales, Timber, Forest Products, Land Management, Licences, Environmental Protection, Sustainable Forestry, Renewable Energy.

Publication Information:

Publication date: 21 November 2024 Version number: No 96 (of 2012)

Agricultural Industry Alignment:

Forestry, Beef & Veal, Sheep Meat.

Date Added to database:

This document was parsed and added to the database on 25-07-2025

URL:

https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/pdf/inforce/2024-11-21/act-2012-096 →