Apastoral lease, sometimes called apastoral run, is an arrangement used in bothAustralia andNew Zealand where government-ownedCrown land is leased out tograziers for the purpose of livestockgrazing onrangelands.

In theAustralian states and territories, leases constitute a land apportionment system created in the mid-19th century to facilitate the orderly division and sale of land to European colonists. Legislation ensured that certain Aboriginal rights were embodied in pastoral leases. However, according to historianHenry Reynolds, several colonial leaders ran roughshod over these rights, includingSir John Downer (when theNorthern Territory was governed by thecolonial government of South Australia);Sir John Forrest in thecolony of Western Australia; andSir Samuel Griffith inQueensland.^[1]

Pastoral leases exist in bothAustralian commonwealth law andstate jurisdictions. They do not give all the rights that attach to freehold land: there are usually conditions which include a time period and the type of activity permitted. According toAustrade, such leases cover about 44% ofmainland Australia (3,380,000 km² (1,310,000 sq mi)), mostly in arid and semi-arid regions and the tropicalsavannahs. They usually allow people to use the land for grazing traditional livestock, but more recently have been also used for non-traditional livestock (such askangaroos orcamels), tourism and other activities. Management of the leases falls mainly to state and territory governments.^[2] Leases within state jurisdictions have variations as to applicability from state to state.

UnderCommonwealth of Australia law, applicable only in theNorthern Territory, they are agreements that allow for the use ofCrown land by farmers.^[3]

Native title can co-exist with pastoral leases, andIndigenous land use agreements may be made between the leaseholder and the affected native title group.^[2]

Australian jurisdictions have land management legislation that affects the administration of pastoral leases.^[4] As of November 2023^[update] the legislation and management arrangements are as follows:

• New South Wales -Western Lands Act 1901^{[5][needs update]}
• Northern Territory –Pastoral Land Act 1992^[6] andCrown Lands Act 1992^[7]
• Queensland –Land Act 1994^[8]
• South Australia – Pastoral Land Management and Conservation Act 1989 (323 pastoral leases, covering more than 40 per cent of the state)^[9]
• Western Australia –Land Administration Act 1997^[10]

The statutory provisions of pastoral leases are covered by theNew ZealandCrown Pastoral Land Act 1998 and theLand Act 1948. The holder of the lease has:^[11]

• the exclusive right ofpasturage
• a perpetual right of renewal of the lease for terms of 33 years
• no right to the soil, and
• no right to acquire thefee simple of any of the land.

• Cattle station
• Sheep station
• List of pastoral leases in Western Australia
• List of pastoral leases in the Northern Territory

• Alick, Terrence (Terrence J.); Alick, Rosemary; Queensland. Department of Natural Resources (2010),Atlas of Queensland and Northern Territory pastoral stations etc (8th ed.), Terrence Alick Mapping Services,ISBN 978-0-9756998-2-9
• Queensland. Land Administration Commission (1989),Index of pastoral leases, Brisbane, retrieved6 September 2014 (Queensland)
• Donovan, P. F (1995),In the interest of the country: a history of the Pastoral Board of South Australia, 1893–1993, Pastoral Management Branch of the South Australian Department of Environment and Natural Resources,ISBN 978-0-646-26803-3

• Australian property law
• Australian English
• Livestock in Australia
• Stations (Australian agriculture)
• Agriculture in New Zealand
• Pastoral leases in Australia

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