What is Crown land?

Crown land is essential to community life, provides public open space and green space in cities, and can be found in different types of land.

• During the settlement of NSW, the government established Crown roads. They are part of the state’s public road network.
• Most Crown roads are in rural areas and many have never been constructed. They are often referred to as ‘paper roads’.
• Crown roads are managed under the Roads Act 1993.

• The Western Division covers almost half of NSW (more than 32 million hectares).
• The eastern boundary runs from Mungindi on the Queensland border to the Murray River near Balranald.
• The majority of this area is Crown land. It’s mostly used for grazing or agriculture.

• Commons allow local residents to use land in common. Generally, they are used for grazing and other agricultural purposes.
• A government order or notification sets out who is eligible to use the commons and the type of use permitted.
• Commons differ from Crown reserves and other public land. They are created for the use of local residents.

• We manage waterways across NSW for recreational uses and determine water boundaries and dams.
• Land with tidal and non-tidal waterways – including oceans, rivers and lakes – is Crown land. This means most river, creek and lake beds, estuaries and beaches.
• Many man-made lakes and canals are not Crown land.

National parks and state forests are also public land. They’re administered under different legislation than other types of Crown land:

• National parks are administered under the National Parks Act 1974.
• State forests are administered under the Forestry Act 2012.
• NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service manages national parks.
• The state-owned Forestry Corporation manages state forests.

Crown reserves are lands set aside on behalf of the community.

Purposes

Reserves can be used for a wide range of public purposes, including:

• environmental and heritage protection
• recreation and sport
• open space
• community halls
• special events
• government services.

'Reserved' land and 'dedicated' land

Crown land can be either ‘reserved’ or ‘dedicated’. A government order sets out the purposes for a reserve.

There is little difference between reservations and dedications when managing, visiting and using the land. They’re generally grouped under the name ‘Crown reserves’.

Dedicated reserves

Dedicated Crown land is a more enduring form of reserve for public benefit or good. Some of our most valuable public land in NSW is dedicated – like Hyde Park in Sydney. Dedication can only be removed with the agreement of both houses of the parliament.

Community engagement

The community engagement strategy ensures our community have their say about reserves. Only after community consultation can the minister responsible for Crown land decide to remove a reservation or dedication from Crown land.

Reserve Manager

Reserve Manager supports Crown land managers, providing guidance materials, templates and other resources to help manage Crown reserves.

• Over 240 cemetery and crematorium operators provide interment services across 1,400 facilities in NSW.
• Many of our cemeteries are on Crown land.
• Most crematoria are operated privately.
• There are 2 large Crown cemetery operators in Greater Metropolitan Sydney.
• Across the rest of NSW, cemeteries on Crown land are generally operated by local councils.
• Crown cemetery operators are regulated under the Crown Land Management Act 2016 and the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2013.
• Cemeteries & Crematoria NSW is the lead agency that supports and regulates the interment industry.

OneCrown Health Check Report

This review assesses the OneCrown administration of Crown cemetery operators – OneCrown Health Check Report (PDF, 1.1 MB).

Burial space supply in Sydney's Crown cemetery sector

This document provides an overview of the burial space supply pressures facing Sydney's Crown cemetery sector and explores potential options to address the issue – Burial Space supply in Sydney's Crown sector – audit overview (PDF, 202 KB).

Schools of arts, mechanics’ institutes and literary institutes are part of a statewide network of public halls for communities.

They are managed by volunteers, not-for-profit organisations and local councils.