Australia has no single metal detecting law. Each of the six states and two territories writes its own rules for national parks, state forests, beaches and Crown land, and the answers run from Tasmania, which bans even carrying a detector onto reserved land, to Victoria’s goldfields parks, where miner’s right holders can prospect in designated areas. Two things hold everywhere: detectors are banned outright in the parks the Commonwealth runs, such as Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta, and anything from a shipwreck that has sat in Australian waters for 75 years is protected, so it stays out of your finds pouch unless you hold a permit.
State by state
Australian national parks are mostly run by the states and territories, and prospecting needs a state permit, so the answer changes as you cross a border. The map at the top of this page shows the easiest public place to detect in each one, across beaches, state forests and Crown land, and national parks.
- Australian Capital Territory
- New South Wales
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
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Think a miner’s right opens the national parks? Mostly not. 11 detecting myths, checked against the actual rules →
Can I detect in Commonwealth places?
The short answer for each kind of land. Tap a card for the detail and the rule’s own words.
Open in many areas without a permitPermit, registration, or designated beaches onlyProhibited or effectively closed
The rules, land by land
Parks Australia places
ProhibitedMetal detectors are banned in every Commonwealth reserve, including Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Booderee national parks: the regulations make it an offense even to possess one there, let alone use it.
- Commonwealth reserves include Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Booderee, Christmas Island, Pulu Keeling and Norfolk Island national parks, the Australian National Botanic Gardens and the Australian Marine Parks (managed by the Director of National Parks with Parks Australia)
- using or possessing 'a device for detecting minerals or metal' is an offense of strict liability, up to 30 penalty units (EPBC Regulations r 12.18(1)(e), (7))
- 'fossick' is defined to include using a device or technique for detecting minerals or metal, and fossicking is banned separately (r 12.16(b))
- exception: a detector stowed securely on a vessel passing through, anchored or moored in a marine area (r 12.18(2)(b))
- the ban does not apply in the Jabiru township in Kakadu (r 12.07(c))
- the Director can permit a prohibited activity in principle (r 12.06(1)(c), (2)), and a reserve's management plan can provide for one (r 12.06(1)(a)); no hobby detecting permit process was found
- national parks run by a state or territory follow that state's or territory's own rules
What the rule says
“A person must not use or possess, in a Commonwealth reserve: ... (e) a device for detecting minerals or metal”
Digging
ProhibitedDigging is out in Commonwealth reserves: disturbing or removing sand, stone or other earth materials is an offense, and so is fossicking, which the regulations define to include digging, raking or shoveling to find minerals.
- no introducing, disturbing or removing minerals, clay, sand, stone or other earth materials; no fossicking; up to 50 penalty units (EPBC Regulations r 12.16)
- 'fossick' includes digging, raking or shoveling clay, sand, stone or other earth materials to find mineral materials, and using a panning dish, sieve or sluice (dictionary)
- no excavation in a Commonwealth reserve (r 12.11, strict liability, 50 penalty units)
- same exceptions as other Part 12 offenses: a Director's permit or the reserve's management plan (r 12.06)
What the rule says
“A person must not, in a Commonwealth reserve: (a) introduce, disturb, or remove minerals, clay, sand, stone or other earth materials; or (b) fossick.”
Keeping finds
ProhibitedNothing of heritage value may be moved or kept in a Commonwealth reserve. Possessing or moving 'heritage', which covers objects of archaeological or historic significance, is an offense, and so is removing any object or natural feature.
- 'heritage' includes places, features, structures and objects of aesthetic, archaeological, historic, scientific or social significance (dictionary)
- no damaging, defacing, moving, possessing or interfering with heritage: strict liability, up to 50 penalty units (r 12.13)
- no damaging, removing or interfering with a natural feature or an object, sign or structure (r 12.12)
- scientific research, including archaeological research, needs authorization (r 12.10, r 12.06)
- no source found on handing in modern lost property
What the rule says
“A person must not, in a Commonwealth reserve, damage, deface, move, possess or interfere with heritage.”
Shipwrecks & Commonwealth
Digging
Permit requiredHistoric shipwrecks and sunken aircraft are protected by Commonwealth law once they have been in Australian waters for 75 years. Disturbing one, or removing anything from it or from its archaeological context, needs a permit from the federal environment Minister.
- automatically protected: remains of vessels in Australian waters for at least 75 years, every associated article, and aircraft remains and associated articles in Commonwealth waters for at least 75 years (Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 s 16(1))
- protected whether or not anyone knows where the article is, and even after it has been removed from the water (s 16(2), (3))
- 'Australian waters' covers the territorial sea and beyond, but not waters within the limits of a state, such as many bays, harbors and rivers, where state heritage law applies (s 11)
- penalty: up to 5 years in prison or 300 penalty units, or both (s 30(4)); civil penalty up to 800 penalty units (s 30(6))
- declared protected zones around some wrecks restrict listed conduct without a permit (s 29)
- permits are granted by the Minister (s 23)
What the rule says
“Conduct has an adverse impact on protected underwater cultural heritage if the conduct: (a) directly or indirectly physically disturbs or otherwise damages the protected underwater cultural heritage; or (b) causes the removal of the protected underwater cultural heritage from waters or from its archaeological context.”
Keeping finds
Permit requiredYou may not keep an artifact from a protected shipwreck or sunken aircraft without a permit: having possession, custody or control of protected underwater cultural heritage is itself an offense. Finding an article of archaeological character in Australian waters must be reported within 21 days.
- possession, custody or control without a permit: up to 5 years in prison or 300 penalty units, or both (s 31(1), (4))
- supplying or offering to supply protected underwater cultural heritage also needs a permit (s 32)
- found an article of underwater cultural heritage that appears to be of archaeological character in Australian waters: written notice to the Minister within 21 days, describing it and where it is (s 40)
- protection continues after an article has been removed from the water (s 16(3))
- permits come from the Minister (s 23); the department's own guidance page could not be read (blocked)
What the rule says
“A person contravenes this subsection if the person has possession, custody or control of protected underwater cultural heritage. ... Subsection (1) does not apply if the person has possession, custody or control in accordance with a permit granted under section 23.”
Even where detecting is allowed, archaeological and historic sites are protected, and you must fill every hole and follow posted rules. Always confirm the current rule with the land manager.
Commonwealth parks: Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Booderee and more
Most Australian national parks are run by the states. A handful are run by the Commonwealth’s Director of National Parks with Parks Australia: Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Booderee, Christmas Island, Pulu Keeling and Norfolk Island national parks, the Australian National Botanic Gardens and the Australian Marine Parks. In all of them, the EPBC Regulations say a person “must not use or possess” a “device for detecting minerals or metal” (regulation 12.18). Possession alone is an offense, so leave the detector at home, or at least locked up in the car outside the park.
The same regulations ban fossicking, which they define to include using a detector and digging, raking or shoveling for minerals, and they ban disturbing or removing sand, stone and other earth materials. Moving or possessing anything of heritage value is an offense too. The Director can permit a prohibited activity in principle, but we found no permit route for hobby detecting.
State and territory parks: mostly closed
Six of the eight states and territories close their national parks and reserves to detectors. New South Wales bans using one in its parks without the park authority’s consent, Tasmania bans even bringing one onto reserved land, and Queensland bans them in protected areas, with a written-approval exception we found no hobby category for. South Australia’s environment department says using a metal detector in a reserve is an offense. Western Australia rules out prospecting, which it says includes searching with a metal detector, in national parks and nature reserves, and bars disturbing soil on park land. The ACT lists metal detecting among the prohibited activities in Canberra Nature Park.
Two jurisdictions leave a door ajar. Victoria allows prospecting with a miner’s right in designated areas of some national, state and historic parks, mostly in the goldfields. The Northern Territory lets you use or carry a detector in a park or reserve only under a permit from its parks Commission. Neither is a free-for-all, so check your state or territory page before you pack the coil.
Prospecting and fossicking permits
Outside parks, hunting for gold usually means paperwork, and every jurisdiction does it differently. Victoria wants a miner’s right ($29.40, up to 10 years). Western Australia counts metal detecting as prospecting, which needs a Miner’s Right. Queensland needs a fossicking licence, Tasmania a five-year Prospecting Licence, and New South Wales a Forestry Corporation authorization ($27.50 a year) to fossick in state forests, although vacant Crown land there needs no permission. South Australia needs no fossicking permit under its Mining Act, but fossicking on Crown land needs the environment department’s consent. The ACT does not license fossicking at all.
The newcomer is the Northern Territory: since June 5, 2026, fossicking, which includes searching for gold with a metal detector, needs a fossicking permit under the Mineral Titles Act 2010. If you last detected there before mid-2026, the rules have changed.
Coins and lost jewelry are a different hobby in the eyes of the law. Queensland says outright that you do not need a license “to hunt for treasure or lost items using a metal detector”, only a check of the council’s rules for public beaches. Elsewhere the mining permits speak of minerals, not coins, so on beaches and in council parks the land manager decides. And every state and territory protects Aboriginal heritage by law, on private land as well as public land.
Shipwrecks and sunken aircraft
The Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 automatically protects the remains of any vessel that has been in Australian waters for at least 75 years, every article associated with it, and aircraft wrecks in Commonwealth waters of the same age. Protection applies whether or not anyone knows where the wreck is, and it continues after an article has been removed from the water.
Without a permit from the Minister you may not disturb a protected wreck, remove anything from it or from its archaeological context, or even have a protected artifact in your possession. Penalties run up to five years in prison. If you find an article that looks archaeological in Australian waters, the Act requires a written notice to the Minister within 21 days. Waters inside a state’s limits, such as many bays, harbors and rivers, fall under state law instead: New South Wales and Tasmania protect wrecks 75 years and older, and Victoria requires shipwreck finds to be reported within 7 days.
Sources
Official and statutory sources this page is based on (source check: October 7, 2026):
Checked the EPBC Regulations 2000 (compilation 26, 14 October 2024), Parks Australia's national parks page and the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 (compilation 3, 1 July 2026) on October 7, 2026. DCCEEW's underwater heritage guidance pages could not be read. The state and territory comparisons summarize the verified rules on the eight state and territory pages, all researched the same day; South Australia's parks row rests on an agency guide because its regulations could not be read.
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000 (Compilation No. 26)
- National Parks (Parks Australia)
- Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 (Compilation No. 3)
- Possessing, exporting and importing of underwater cultural heritage (the agency site blocks automated checks; read it directly)
Once you’ve confirmed where you’re allowed to hunt, LuckyFind helps you make the most of it — track your route on the map, log each find with its location, and revisit your saved hunt records. LuckyFind does not verify land access or grant detecting permission. Free for iPhone and Android.
New to LuckyFind? Follow the first-hunt checklist, then learn how to record a hunt and add finds.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can you metal detect in Kakadu or Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park?
- No. Kakadu, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, Booderee and the other Commonwealth reserves ban using or even possessing a device for detecting minerals or metal, under regulation 12.18 of the EPBC Regulations. Fossicking and disturbing sand, stone or soil are banned too.
- Can you metal detect in Australian national parks?
- Mostly no. Commonwealth parks ban detectors outright, and New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT close their own parks and reserves to them. Victoria allows prospecting with a miner's right in designated areas of some parks, and the Northern Territory allows detectors in parks only under a permit from its parks Commission.
- Do I need a permit to prospect for gold in Australia?
- Almost always. Victoria requires a miner's right, Western Australia a Miner's Right, Queensland a fossicking licence, Tasmania a Prospecting Licence, and the Northern Territory a fossicking permit (new since June 5, 2026). New South Wales needs a Forestry Corporation authorization in state forests but no permission on vacant Crown land. South Australia needs no fossicking permit, but Crown land needs the environment department's consent. The ACT does not license fossicking.
- Do I need a license to hunt beaches for coins and lost jewelry?
- Not in Queensland, which says no license is needed to hunt for treasure or lost items with a metal detector, though you should check the council's rules for public beaches. Elsewhere the state mining permits cover minerals, not coins, so the beach's land manager decides, and beaches inside national parks follow the park rules.
- Can I keep something I find from an old shipwreck?
- Not without a permit. Under the Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018, wrecks that have been in Australian waters for at least 75 years and their associated articles are protected, and having one in your possession without a permit is an offense. Finds of archaeological character in Australian waters must be reported to the Minister within 21 days.
- Is metal detecting legal in Australia?
- Yes, in many places, but the rules are set state by state and land manager by land manager. Commonwealth reserves ban detectors outright, six of the eight states and territories close their national parks to them, prospecting for gold usually needs a permit, and heritage laws protect Aboriginal objects on any land. Check your state or territory page before you swing.
Find more, remember where
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