The holder of a Fossickers Licence may fossick on most land throughout the State, provided the written permission of any land owner is obtained. However, on some land in Queensland fossicking is not permitted or is regulated. Fossicking is not permitted on National Parks and Conservation Parks, and is allowed in State Forests and Timber Reserves only at specific localities where forestry authorities have agreed to the declaration of an area as either 'Designated Fossicking Land' or a 'Fossicking Area', or given a 'general permission' to the Mining Registrar. Fossicking is also not permitted on any land where native title has been determined to exist, unless there is an Indigenous Land Use Agreement for the land which permits fossicking. General Permission' A land owner may give a 'general permission ' for fossicking and camping to the Mining Registrar for the Mining District in which the land is located.
Permission is given subject to certain conditions as required by the land owner.
The conditions must be complied with at all times otherwise the permission to remain on land ends and the fossicker must leave immediately. The Fossicking Act 1994 provides for the declaration of specific areas as Designated Fossicking Land and Fossicking Areas. This means that access is much simpler and the holder of a Fossickers Licence does not need to obtain individual permission. A State-wide network of these 'declared areas' has been set up and additional areas are likely to be added in the future. A separate leaflet is available for each area in the network and these provide visitors with the necessary information for fossicking in that particular area, including a sketch map.