The Queensland government has put out a discussion paper on adjusting exactly how money is taken from the industry to pay for ongoing health and safety checks.

“An adjusted petroleum and gas safety and health fee would better reflect the range and level of compliance checks required for various industry activities,” Queensland Mines Minister Andrew Cripps said.

“The petroleum and gas industry operates in an environment that requires risk to be managed carefully by a professionally and well-resourced inspectorate administered by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines.”

He said the expanding nature of the coal seam gas industry in the state had put pressure on the budget of the department. It made necessary the inspection of the structure and amount of fees extracted from the industry for the purpose of health and safety compliance.

Cripps said the fee under the state’s proposal was expected to be about $7.1 million to pay the costs of hiring extra inspectors, additional training and effective administration services.

The proposed system is contained within a regulatory impact statement, on which the industry is now being consulted.

Proposed measures include annual returns instead of quarterly ones, and better explanations around the 15 fee categories used to determine a company’s fees.