Hundreds of mines will have the green light to leave behind environmentally hazardous no-go zones without public scrutiny, despite the Queensland Government touting landmark rehabilitation reforms, environmental advocates say.

Under the Government's new bill, expected to be passed later this year, existing mines will not have to justify plans to leave "non-use management areas", which may include pit voids, waste rock and water dumps.

By contrast, new mines will have to produce evidence including environmental reports to show why such areas cannot be "rehabilitated to a stable condition", meaning they are safe, cause no environmental harm and can be used for something else after mining.

New mines will also have to publicly notify their rehabilitation plans and invite public comment, existing mines will not.

Across Australia there are more than 50,000 abandoned mines — a legacy of the early mining days when resource companies simply walked away when the profits dried up.

Among the current mines not captured by the reforms is Ebenezer near Ipswich, which its owners concede will leave permanent voids in the landscape when it shuts down, looking much as it does now.

Trevor Smith, director of the mine owner Zedamar Holdings, said under the current plan all areas will be returned to use for grazing, water storage or fauna habitat when the mine is shut.

"[But] the voids will end up being voids," he said.

Ebenezer Mine near Ipswich is one of the mines not captured by the reforms. ( Supplied )

The company has a bank guarantee of only $1.3 million for rehabilitation and is still exploring an alternative plan to sell the site off for landfill.

Christa McMillan, who can see the mine site from her front yard, is among local residents at Willowbank who consider neither a dump nor an "empty hole" is ideal.

"I think they should fill it, but not with garbage, fill it with dirt that's been taken from other places and then plant trees and shrubs," she said.

"I'd say nothing will be done about it. Yep, a big shame."

Christa McMillan, a resident for 19 years at Willowbank, can see disturbed land from the Ebenezer coal mine from her front yard. ( ABC News )

Lawyer Revel Pointon from the Environmental Defenders Office said that apart from a blanket ban on final voids on floodplains, the new laws do not go far enough.

"It doesn't seem that the new framework will require existing mines to meet a higher level of land rehabilitation compared to what is currently required of them, she said.

Rick Humphries from activist group Lock the Gate said the Government should be congratulated for "the most comprehensive review of mine rehabilitation law in Australia's history".

"The problem is though, at the last hurdle, we think there are some significant loopholes that if they aren't adequately closed, will exempt a whole lot of existing mines, which will largely defeat the purpose of the reforms,' Mr Humphries said.

The Mount Oxide copper mine north of Mount Isa, which was abandoned in 1971. ( Supplied: Lock The Gate )

Mr Humphries, who oversaw rehabilitation activities for mining giant Rio Tinto worldwide, said companies made provisions in their accounts for major clean ups.

"It's not about the money, it's about government will to force the industry to deliver on their commitments," he said.

Mr Humphries acknowledged there were some ageing mines with minimal ways to rehabilitate them, but he wanted the state to act on the "dozens and dozens of mines that need to be caught by these reforms".

While concessions also apply to mines that are approved but not yet underway, a government source insisted the Adani project was one that will be forced into a costly revamp of clean-up plans under the new regime.

The ABC has been told Adani will be held to the new standards, as they do not have a final plan of operations approved by the Government yet.

The open pit of the Mary Kathleen uranium mine in north-west Queensland in 2009. It was closed in 1982. Uranium mining was banned in Qld in 1989. ( Wikimedia )

The boss of Queensland's Resources Council Ian Macfarlane said all non-use management areas or voids from current mines came under "strict environmental guidelines that were laid down when that mine was opened".

"We now drive cars with seatbelts in them, originally we didn't," he said.

"We're all for new mines having much stricter conditions around those areas. But the moment you introduce retrospectivity into legislation, you destroy the state's investment profile.

Mr Ian Macfarlane said the Government did not have to be lobbied to exempt existing mines from tough new clean-up standards. ( ABC News )

"You can't go back and start tearing apart the whole confidence of people to go out and spend the billions of dollars you need to spend on a mine before you get any return for the investors."

Mr Macfarlane said that "even the Treasurer has assured me on three occasions that this legislation will not be retrospective".

Treasurer Jackie Trad told the ABC that the laws were the most significant reforms to mining rehabilitation in Queensland in nearly 20 years, and it went to the last election with a policy they would not be retrospective.

"They will ensure taxpayers are no longer left to foot the bill for abandoned mines or stranded assets," she said.

Lock The Gate campaigner Rick Humphries, a former environmental consultant for Rio Tinto, said it is not about the money. ( ABC News )

"We have been working closely with all stakeholders in the design of the laws and that will continue."

An Adani spokeswoman said the mine would "comply with the provisions of the legislation once it is passed".

The Government's reform push followed revelations the state was exposed to multi-billion-dollar liabilities including from 15,000 abandoned mines.

It has clawed back some of the shortfall in financial bonds from miners in case they go bust, including an extra $449 million in the last 12 months.