I have been under the impression for quite a while that it is ok to follow a river or creek over private land but decided to validate the theory. After many hours of searching gov depts today with little success, I found the info on a canoeing website www.canoe.org.au/ Here is the relevant text -
Access to Water in Australia
Here in Australian Canoeing office we are often asked where paddlers are permitted to paddle, especially in regard to trespassing on private land.
After endless discussions with government departments and the wonderful paddlers who happened to pop up in a variety of our state and territory government offices I was pointed in the direction of appropriate legislation or at least a starting point.
The consensus Australia-wide was that it is most important to recognise that the appropriate legislation can differ from state to state and in some cases from river to river to creek to stream!!!
In most cases on larger rivers you can expect the bed and banks of any navigable waterway to the point of the mean high-water mark to be crown land.
The 'high-water mark', or in some states/territories, the 'mean high-water mark', refers to the highest point at which water normally rises. This does not take into account times of flood. It is recognised in the various legislation that this point is not constant from year to year with the changes in the shapes of waterways.
What does all this mean?
In most cases the bed of the water body and the majority of its bank is governed by Crown Lands Acts or the equivalent in each state and territory. This makes it land owned by the government and therefore often accessible to the general public as long as they do not use private land to access the water.
In situations of very old freeholds, ownership/lease of land can extend to the centre of the waterway and landowners on either side may have jurisdiction over half the waterway each. On a limited number of waterways most notably in NSW, being on a river that passes through a
farm could lead you to trespassing.
It would usually be interpreted that if a waterway can be entered through public access you can expect to be able to paddle the water and set foot on its immediate banks. If you wish to venture further up the banks you will require specific permission of the landowner or lessee.
In general the advice received from legal professionals within government departments was to
check with the land titles office in your state or territory or the appropriate local council as to who owns the waterways you plan to paddle and if necessary contact the landowner/lessee for the appropriate permissions before setting out on the water.
Australian Canoeing will continue to investigate paddlers' rights and responsibilities Australia-wide with references to some of the more popular destinations. Keep an eye out at www.canoe.org.au for more information.
The acts noted below provide the basis for much of the information outlined in this article: Australian Capital Territory Lakes Act of 1976, New South Wales Crown Land Act 1989, Northern Territory Crown Lands Act, Queensland Land Act 1994, South Australia Harbours and Navigation Act 1993, Tasmania Crown Lands Act 1976, Western Australia Land Administration Act 1997, Victoria Land Act 1958.
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Some creeks traverse many small properties making it very hard to know if you have access.
How does it work with Aboriginal land?
Regards,
Brian