Authorised officers have a range of powers. In general, these powers permit the authorised officer to:

• Gain access to buildings and property and remain there
• Inspect, examine and copy any documents or records
• Require a person to answer questions and provide information
• Require a person to take reasonable steps to obtain information relevant to the investigation and to pass it on to the authorised officer. A full list of authorised officer powers can be found under section 14(c) of the Mining Act 1971
• If a tenement holder fails to comply with an authorised officer's lawful requests, it is possible that penalties such as a fine can be applied