Land Act 1958

All lands of the Crown which are sold or in any manner alienated from the Crown or in respect of which a lease or licence to hold or occupy the same for other than the purpose of mining or winning getting or working metals or minerals is issued shall be sold or otherwise alienated leased or licensed as aforesaid only down to such depth below the surface as the Governor in Council may by any order direct.

Nothing in this section or in any such Order in Council contained shall be deemed or taken to restrict the right of the owner lessee or licensee of the surface to sink wells for water and to the use and enjoyment of any wells and springs which may at any time be upon such land and which supply water for domestic farming agricultural manufacturing or irrigation purposes, and every such owner lessee and licensee shall subject to the Water Act 1989 have such rights with respect to such wells and springs as though he held or occupied such land without any limitation as to depth.

Nothing in subsection (1) shall apply to any lands which before the twenty-ninth day of December One Thousand eight hundred and ninety-one had in fact been sold although at the said date no Crown grant had actually issued; and nothing in the said subsection shall be taken to apply to or affect any person's interest in any land of the Crown if such person or his predecessor in title held such land as lessee or licensee at the said date although at such date no lease or licence had actually issued in respect of the same.

Subsection (1) does not apply to a licence for a stratum of Crown land to which section 138A applies.

Subsection (1) does not apply to—

a lease of a stratum of Crown land under subdivision 1 of Division 9 of Part I; or

an alienation in fee simple of a stratum of Crown land to which section 339A applies.

Subsection (1) does not restrict the alienation by the Crown of the surface of land or of land to any height above the surface.