Other levels of government, businesses, members of the public and other stakeholders could have local knowledge of individual Commonwealth landholdings and suggestions for better and innovative uses.
While the Commonwealth, through the Department of Finance, welcomes alternative use proposals for any landholding owned by non-corporate Commonwealth entities, proposals will need to be assessed when received to determine whether the landholdings are surplus to Commonwealth requirements.
Upon receipt of an alternative use proposal, the Department of Finance, in conjunction with the owning entity, will undertake an assessment of the landholding.
All Commonwealth disposals must comply with the Commonwealth Property Disposal Policy, which generally requires property be sold on the open-market for full market value, unless one of a limited number of exceptions is met.
A data-set of landholdings owned by non-corporate Commonwealth entities, including title and address information, along with a geospatial link to each site, is available for download at data.gov.au as well as the National Map.
Under the ownership and disposal part of the Framework, property should only be held by the Commonwealth where it demonstrably contributes to government service delivery outcomes and ownerships represents value for money.
How to propose an alternative use
Please fill out all of the below fields and email this form and any relevant attachments to LandProposals@finance.gov.au once complete. In your email, please ensure that you include the AGPR ID and property address in the subject heading. A member of the team will get back to you regarding the status of your proposal within 5 business days.
How land disposals will be conducted
The submission of an alternative use proposal does not constitute a right to buy or use a property by the person submitting the form.
If a proposal leads to the disposal of land, the sale must be conducted in the accordance with the Commonwealth Property Disposal Policy (CPDP). The CPDP requires surplus land to be sold on the open market, at full market value unless agreed otherwise by the Minister for Finance. Where a property is sold through an off-market or concessional process, the sales contract may include a security of purpose clause to guarantee the future use of the land by the purchaser.
Intellectual Property
While all reasonable steps will be taken to protect the intellectual property of the proposer, participation in a process where an alternative land purpose is proposed, could be publicly disclosed, for example, through an open market disposal process.
Privacy
The Department of Finance’s Privacy Policy sets out its personal information collection and handling practices.
