NSW Farmers’ CEO Matt Brand says the audit is a critically important process as part of the Strategic Regional Land Use Policy.

“Under the previous government, explorers were left to police their own licence compliance,” he said.

“We hope this review will highlight the need for additional resources within the Department of Resources and Energy, to give the community greater confidence within the exploration licence process,” he said.

The results of the audit will be provided to the Strategic Regional Land Use Policy’s Reference Group, which NSW Farmers’ is a part of.

NSW Farmers’ will be using the outcomes of the audit to ensure balanced outcomes for landholders whose land is subject to exploration licences.

NSW Farmers’ also welcomes the revision of fees accepted by the State Government.

“Hundreds of millions of dollars have been collected in exchange for a licence to explore,” Mr Brand said.

“Removing the upfront fees is the only way to give farmers confidence that outcomes in the approval process for exploration or extraction aren’t predetermined.

“Having said that we need to ensure that licence fees are sufficient to cover the Department’s costs of approving and enforcing licence conditions on an ongoing basis,” he said.