Under the reforms unsurveyed land in an area which had been declared an agricultural reserve in designated unsettled areas could be selected and bought freehold in 40-to-320-acre (16–129 ha) lots of crown land, wherever situated at £1 per acre (£2 9s 5d/ha), on a deposit of five shillings per acre (12s 4d/ha), the balance to be paid within three years, an interest-free loan of three-quarters of the price.
[4] The Robertson acts were replaced completely by new legislation with effect from the beginning of 1885.
[5] Selectors were required to live on their land for three years and to make improvements worth £1 per acre.
In addition they were to continue to possess the right to request the survey and auctioning of large parcels of their lease.
[8] The work of Alexander Grant McLean, Surveyor General of New South Wales facilitated the introduction of these Land Acts.