The chamber said it was crucial that two bills currently in in the House of Representatives, which would allow for the implementation of the $A100 million Exploration Development Incentive, be addressed in parliament’s first sitting days for the year.

The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No. 7) and Excess Exploration Credit Tax 2014 bills were introduced to the House of Representatives in December, and debate was adjourned on the second reading before parliament wound up for 2014.

Parliament resumes on February 9.

The Exploration Development Incentive is a tax reform which would assist junior explorers with no taxable income to pass their current losses onto Australian shareholders in the form of a tax credit.

It is thought the incentive would ease the burden on struggling explorers and encourage shareholder investment in the junior sector as a means of generating start-up capital.

SACOME chief executive Jason Kuchel said investment was sorely needed in the current economic climate.

“The junior explorers are doing it really tough at the moment,” he said.

“Quarterly exploration expenditure has halved in the last two years to September 2014. Softening commodity prices combined with the constrained capital markets we are experiencing right now is providing an extremely challenging environment for our junior resources sector.

“Many people do not realise the junior sector is critical to resource development, being the engine room needed to find the mineral resource upon which the economy is so dependant.”

Under the incentive, credits for the sector would be capped at $25 million for both 2014/15 and 2015/16, and $40 million in 2016/17. The program would then come under review.

The incentive was first pledged during the 2014 federal election and is not without precedent. A similar scheme has run in Canada for more than 20 years.