Land tenure management in a dynamic social, economic and environmental context

Abstract

[Abstract]: The Bathurst Declaration on Land Administration for Sustainable Development (FIG 1999) identified that the relationship of people with the land was causing increasingly serious problems. In Australia, the issues of native title, land degradation, vegetation clearing and water management are creating a more complex land management environment that, more often than not, results in competition between private and community interests. Land administration systems in Australia were not designed to address this additional complexity and are now experiencing increasing difficulty in managing the dynamic nature of property rights and responsibilities that are emerging. This paper examines the current land administration system in Queensland with the view to proposing a more dynamic system of tenure management. Specifically, it identifies some recent legislative changes which have significantly affected rights and responsibilities of rural property owners. The implications of these changes on landholders and related stakeholders such as rural investors, valuers, banks and government departments will be discussed. An adapted model of the Cadastre 2014 vision is proffered as an alternative model for reform of the existing land administration system through the use of legal land objects as a mechanism to deal with increasingly dynamic nature of property rights. It is proposed that by utilising a system of legal land objects a clearer picture of the true value, rights and responsibilities associated with property may be established. The paper also suggests areas of research that will need to be pursued in order to meet the future challenges in resolving conflicts between the community interests in property and the rights of individual owners.