Mineral Resources Development Act 1995

If more than one application is received for a lease in respect of all or part of the same land, the order of priority is as follows:an application by a person who marks out the land before any other person has priority over an application by that other person; for applications where marking out is done on the same day, the order of priority is as determined by the Director according to the relative merits of the applications; for applications where marking out is done on the same day and which are determined by the Director to be of equal merit, the order of priority is as determined by a ballot conducted in an approved manner; applications received up to and including 4 working days after the date specified by the Director, in accordance with section 161E(2)(c), in a notice under section 161E(2) in relation to a relevant licence, within the meaning of that section, in respect of all or part of the land to which the application relates, are to be taken to be received on the same day.

The Registrar is to reject any application received later than 3 months after receipt of an application determined to have priority.