Tailings storage facilities (TSFs) in Chile are now built using the downstream method of construction, an approach that was triggered by the failure of a number of upstream constructed facilities during or immediately after large seismic events. In Australia, the upstream method continues to be used, because of the significantly lower cost and the perceived lack of a credible seismic risk. The design of TSFs in Australia is moving towards the adoption of maximum credible earthquake (MCE) considerations, particularly for closure, where the design life is increasingly expected to be 'in perpetuity'. Recent research in Chile has shown the viability of using a lightweight penetrometer, the PANDA penetrometer, as a tool for rapid, inexpensive and regular in-situ determination of the state of deposited tailings. The PANDA has been calibrated against density measurements and is frequently used to estimate the relative density, which is a useful indication of liquefaction susceptibility. This paper describes an approach for managing upstream TSFs in Australia using the PANDA penetrometer for regular in-situ testing which, when coupled with the results of laboratory compressibility measurements, can be used to predict the future state of tailings once buried to a significant depth.