Tenement minimum expenditure, state by state
Every Australian state attaches an expenditure obligation to an exploration licence, but they don't work the same way. WA, Victoria and South Australia set a dollar minimum by area. Queensland and New South Wales use an approved work program instead, with no fixed dollar figure. The Northern Territory and Tasmania set the spend licence by licence from the work program. Report deadlines and forms differ too.
Checked against each regulator's guidance and legislation on 25 September 2026. General information, not legal advice.
| State | Expenditure obligation | Main report |
|---|---|---|
| Western Australia | $1,000–$3,000 per block a year, rising with licence age, plus a minimum per licence | Form 5, within 60 days after each grant anniversary |
| Queensland | Approved work program; spend figures are estimates, not a minimum | Activity report and expenditure statement, within 1 month after each anniversary |
| New South Wales | Approved work program; estimated spend is not a commitment | Annual activity report, within 1 month after each grant anniversary |
| Victoria | (Rate × graticular sections) + $15,000 a year, rate rising with licence year | Expenditure and Activities Return, within 28 days after the reporting date |
| South Australia | $50–$150 per km² a year (minimum $20,000–$40,000), assessed every 2 years | Form 29EXR, within 60 days after each 2-year commitment period |
| Northern Territory | Expenditure condition set in the licence from the work program | Expenditure report (AF17), within 60 days after each operational year (changed June 2026) |
| Tasmania | Set year by year from the work program; floor of $12,000 a year | Annual report and return, by each grant anniversary |
How this connects to your Appendix 5B
State expenditure reports are per tenement and follow each state's own rules on what counts. Your quarterly Appendix 5B reports exploration spend for the whole company. The same spend feeds both, but the categories don't line up one-to-one, so tracking it per tenement from the start saves re-sorting it twice. See the Appendix 5B guide.