On 26 August 2026, the Queensland Parliament passed the State Development and Public Works Organisation (Critical Minerals) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 (the Bill). It marks the most significant reform to Queensland’s project facilitation framework in over a decade. The Bill modernises the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (Qld) (the SDPWO Act). It positions Queensland as a globally competitive destination for critical minerals investment and provides a streamlined pathway for projects of strategic significance. During consideration in detail, the Deputy Premier moved 12 amendments. Key changes included excluding renewable energy projects and data centres from the State strategic projects regime and adding protections for prime agricultural land. These reflected the government’s response to 1,303 submissions received by the Primary Industries and Resources Committee.

While the Bill is framed around Queensland's critical minerals opportunity, its powers extend beyond that sector. The new framework may apply to any project of State or regional significance, encompassing resources, infrastructure and industrial development.

State strategic projects

The Bill inserts new section 76EB into the SDPWO Act, empowering the Minister to declare a project a State strategic project. A project qualifies if it is critical or essential for the State for economic, environmental or social reasons, or a high priority because it will significantly contribute to achieving Queensland Government objectives. This classification replaces the former ‘critical infrastructure project’ mechanism and serves as the gateway to the Bill’s facilitation tools, including State significance notices, modification orders and enhanced land access powers.

State significance notices

New Division 3A introduces State significance notices, available only for State strategic projects.  A notice enables the Minister to direct a decision-maker to consider the purposes of Part 5A and to have regard to matters relevant to the project’s State significance. The decision must be made in consultation with the Minister. This mechanism ensures that a project’s strategic importance is given appropriate weight in government decision-making without displacing the underlying regulatory framework.

Modification orders

Perhaps the most significant and contested component of the Bill is the power to make modification orders (new Division 3B, section 76RH). A modification order is a regulation that may modify the application of Acts to a State strategic project. The Bill includes important safeguards. Key authorisations - including environmental authorities, mining leases, development approvals, cultural heritage management plans and—following amendment—regional interests development approvals) cannot be overridden. Statutory decision-makers such as the Governor, Governor in Council and Ministers cannot be substituted. Provisions relating to Commonwealth bilateral environmental assessments, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, indigenous land use agreements and State taxes cannot be modified. Restrictions also apply to the exclusion of review and appeal rights. Before making a modification order, the Minister must be satisfied that it is in the State’s interest, necessary to reduce duplication or modify processes inappropriate for the project, and that detrimental environmental effects are not significant or can be adequately managed. The Minister must consult the proponent, responsible Ministers and affected local government bodies.

Infrastructure coordination plans

New Part 5 establishes a framework for infrastructure coordination plans (ICPs).  The Coordinator-General may conduct development investigations into infrastructure requirements for resources projects, and the Minister may then direct the making of an ICP to coordinate infrastructure for resources and related industrial projects.  Significantly, the Minister may decide planning applications within an ICP area, with no appeal against those decisions.

Land access and acquisition powers

New Part 6A introduces access authorities, allowing proponents of prescribed projects to enter land for investigation purposes and proponents of State strategic projects to enter land for enabling works.  Updated Division 7 provides for compulsory acquisition of land for State strategic projects, subject to significant procedural requirements. The proponent must obtain endorsement from the Coordinator-General by demonstrating financial and technical capability. They must have negotiated in good faith with the landowner for at least six months and taken reasonable steps to purchase by agreement. They must also make a final unconditional offer to the landowner. Compensation and rectification provisions apply to protect landowner interests.

State development area framework updates

The Bill updates the State Development Area (SDA) framework to include SDA-related development declarations by the Coordinator-General, SDA rules, conversion of SDA approvals to development approvals under the Planning Act 2016 and interim planning instruments for excluded development. These amendments provide greater flexibility in managing development within and around SDAs, particularly where supporting infrastructure and downstream processing facilities are located outside the formal SDA boundary.

Enforcement

New Part 7A introduces a comprehensive enforcement regime—including appointment of authorised officers, enforcement notices for development offences in SDAs, and powers of entry, search and seizure—addressing a longstanding gap in the SDA framework.

Key amendments made between introduction and passage

Exclusion of renewable energy projects

Amendment 2 prohibits the declaration of certain renewable energy projects as State strategic projects. Specifically, development for a solar farm, wind farm or battery storage facility that requires social impact assessment under section 106T of the Planning Act 2016 cannot be declared a State strategic project, with thresholds prescribed by the Planning Regulation 2017.  The amendment preserves the integrity of the recently established community benefit and social impact assessment regime for renewable energy projects. Importantly, not all projects with renewable energy components are excluded - a project with renewable energy activity components that do not trigger social impact assessment, such as a solar array for on-site use or renewable energy infrastructure on a mining lease, could still potentially be declared a State strategic project.

Exclusion of data centres

The same amendment also prohibited the declaration of data centres as State strategic projects. A data centre is defined as a building or structure used ‘wholly or mainly’ for providing compute resources, electronic data storage or computer networking services, and the prohibition applies whether the data centre is operated for research and development, a commercial purpose or another purpose prescribed by regulation.  The ‘wholly or mainly’ qualifier is critical. Projects that include data centre elements ancillary to their main purpose, such as an advanced manufacturing facility with on-site compute resources - are not captured by the exclusion and could still potentially be declared a State strategic project. The prohibition signals that data centres are expected to progress through a standardised approval pathway while the government develops appropriate regulatory settings.

Protection of prime agricultural land

Amendment 3 added a regional interests development approval (RIDA) under the Regional Planning Interests Act 2014 to the list of key authorisations that cannot be overridden by a modification order. This ensures that where a State strategic project proposes impacts on areas of regional interest, including strategic cropping land and priority agricultural areas—the requirement for a RIDA must be obtained and complied with. The amendment was a direct response to extensive public submissions from the agricultural sector, including from the Queensland Farmers’ Federation, Cotton Australia and AgForce Queensland. It provides a statutory guarantee that assessments of impacts on prime agricultural land will not be short-circuited by the facilitation regime.

SDA-related development clarifications

Amendments 4 through 10 addressed technical deficiencies in the Bill's SDA-related development provisions. The amendments clarified that the approved development scheme is the regulating instrument for SDA assessable development declared by the Coordinator-General. They also extended the removal of other regulatory frameworks to declared SDA-related development, added requirements for the Coordinator-General to decide how the development scheme applies to declared development, and extended cessation provisions accordingly. These clarifications ensure that SDA-related development is regulated consistently whether identified within an SDA development scheme or declared by the Coordinator-General.

The Bill positions Queensland alongside South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, each of which has recently enacted comparable legislation to facilitate strategic projects. The legislation also complements the Queensland Government’s $250m Critical Minerals Fund, together forming the centrepiece of the government’s Critical Minerals Strategy.

The effectiveness of these reforms will depend on implementation. If you are a project proponent, engage early with the Coordinator-General’s office as it develops guidance materials and implements the regime. Monitor the development of subordinate legislation closely, particularly amendments to the State Development and Public Works Organisation Regulation 2020, which will prescribe further operational details. The breadth of the Minister’s discretion, the operation of the modification order safeguards and the treatment of compulsory acquisition will all come into focus as the first projects move through the system.