Hi Alex,
I was talking to a RE in WA and he explained that whilst you purchase the house, the land is actually not owned by you but leased to you by the shire/council (or whatever they call it in that part of the state). So in fact you actually pay a fee to lease the land from this entity (like rates). I guess it’s like having a caravan/cabin in a caravan park, where you might own the cabin, but you have to pay rates for the area the cabin occupies.
It’s an interesting concept and I hope I’ve helped somewhat. Someone else may be able to expand on this for you.