Rehabilitation

Policy

Effective site rehabilitation underpins confidence in both the resources industry and the regulator – the commitments made upon approval of a resources project must be fulfilled when it is finished.

Authority holders are responsible for rehabilitating their sites to achieve safe, stable and sustainable final landforms to protect people, land, infrastructure and the environment, as required under Victoria’s laws for the regulation of earth resources activities.

Authority holders are encouraged to proactively plan and conduct site rehabilitation throughout the full life cycle of their resource project.

Authority holders are required to lodge a Rehabilitation Bond to cover 100 per cent of the estimated cost to rehabilitate their sites, which can be drawn on by the state if they default on their rehabilitation obligations.

Estimated rehabilitation liabilities and resultant bonds are determined based on the activities required to rehabilitate each individual site.

All rehabilitation bonds are required in the form of an unconditional bank guarantee issued by a bank authorised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to operate in Australia, except for:

• cash bonds, which will be accepted for rehabilitation liabilities estimated to cost up to $50,000
• parent company guarantees (PCG) combined with a bank guarantee, which will be accepted for the major coal mines in the Latrobe Valley, subject to the eligibility requirements set in the Rehabilitation Bond Policy for the Latrobe Valley Coal Mines.

Rehabilitation bonds must be lodged before site works begin and can be adjusted during the life of a resource project, taking account of relevant changes in work approvals and any completed rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation bonds are required for operations on private and Crown land.

Earth Resources Regulation is committed to transparency in its regulation of authority holders’ site rehabilitation, within the context of Victoria’s resources laws, and will continue to refine its regulatory practice based on experience.

Improvements

In mid-2018, Earth Resources Regulation self-initiated a review to assess and improve how we regulate mine and quarry rehabilitation.

In February 2020, the regulator released its Regulatory Practice Strategy for the Rehabilitation of Earth Resources Sites, which seeks to help authority holders plan and rehabilitate their sites over their full life cycle. The strategy was updated in November 2020. Both documents and our annual Rehabilitation Strategy progress reports are available to download below.

In August 2020, the Victorian Auditor’s General’s Office released its independent Rehabilitating Mines Audit. Learn more about the actions Earth Resources Regulation is implementing to improve site rehabilitation.

The Latrobe Valley Regional Rehabilitation Strategy (LVRSS) was released on the 26 June 2020. The strategy supports rehabilitation planning and decision‑making for the Latrobe Valley’s three brown coal mines and is a response to the Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry recommendations. The LVRRS is overseen by the Mine Land Rehabilitation Authority.

Related documents

Register of rehabilitation bonds

The interactive dashboard shows the current bonds held by the State. The data is updated daily as part of the regulator’s commitment to transparent reporting.

Detailed information on individual tenements is available online via the department’s GeoVic website.

Page last updated: 19 Jan 2023