• Last month, the NSW Parliament passed the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning System Reforms) Act 2025, representing a significant shift in the planning system. The reforms aim to streamline approvals, adopt a more balanced, risk-based approach to development assessment, and accelerate housing and infrastructure delivery. These reforms will impact how development applications (DAs) and complying development certificates (CDCs) are assessed and determined.

This Industry Note provides a brief overview of key aspects of the latest NSW planning reforms.

Development Coordination Authority (DCA)

The DCA is a new authority within the Department of Planning, Housing and Industry (DPHI) designed to centralise state agency referrals and concurrences for integrated development.  Rather than having the Council engage with multiple agencies for approvals (EPA, bushfire, utilities, etc.), the DCA will act as a single state response entity, representing all agencies, and will provide general approval terms and respond to consultation requests in line with SEPPs and LEPs. This approach is closely based on the Queensland State Assessment Referral Agency (SARA) model, which is a key part of the Queensland Planning Framework. In our view, this should prove to be a successful model for streamlining assessment and approval processes.

Targeted Assessment Pathway

A new ‘targeted assessment development’ pathway is proposed to streamline the assessment criteria for ‘low risk’ development. This will be specified through a state environmental planning policy (SEPP) provision. The ‘targeted assessment development’ pathway closely resembles complying development, which would exclude considerations of environmental impacts, public interest, or site suitability. Its purpose is to cover proposed developments that ‘upfront’ comply with specific strategic planning policies, controls, and codes, with the NSW Government aiming for an approval timeframe of 50 days. This should hopefully provide for a more streamlined and certain process for those straight-forward proposals that are currently caught up in NSW’s ‘’catch-all-works’’ DA process.

Shift in Responsibility

Sydney District and Regional Planning Panels are proposed to be phased out, with local planning panels and councils set to handle development applications for regionally significant projects. This aims to shift responsibility for major developments from state-appointed regional bodies to local planning panels, allowing for faster and more locally accountable decision-making. These panels will consist of an approved independent chair with relevant expertise, two other approved independents, and a local community representative who is not a councillor or mayor. Councillors, property developers, and realtors cannot sit on the panels, but planning consultants will be eligible.

The Minister of Planning and Public Spaces, in their own words, noted the following:

The planning panel changes reflect corruption protection recommendations of the ICAC.

These changes bode well for those that have born the brunt of local councillors determining applications, often outside of any recognised or relevant planning policy framework.  It should provide for a more professional decision-making process particularly within regional council areas.

CDC Advancements

Some of the key changes to the Complying Development Certificate pathway include:

• Being able to modify existing CDC approvals; and
• Allowing some flexibility in the development standards / eligibility criteria (e.g., setbacks, minimum lot size etc.), by obtaining a ‘’variation certificate’’ from the council. The variation requests will be deemed approved if no decision is made within 10 days.

Overall, this gives more flexibility and scope for the CDC approval process and ultimately, poses less of an administrative burden on all concerned when dealing with small modifications to existing CDC consents.  More information is expected in terms of what the relevant environmental planning instruments are that will allow any variation to CDC standards and how wide range they may be.

Environmental Assessment – Section 5.5

Section 5.5 of the Environmental Protection and Assessment Act 1979 currently requires the determining authority to “examine and take into account to the fullest extent possible all matters affecting or likely to affect the environment by reason of that activity” when making a decision for a development application. The courts interpret this as considering a duty of care to the highest regard that is “reasonably possible” (as ruled in Guthega Development Pty Ltd v Minister Administering the National Parks and Wildlife Act (NSW) 1974 (1986) 7 NSWLR 353). However, in our opinion, this vagueness can often result in a broad range of environmental considerations that are not proportionate to the scope of the work.

Included in this new reform is the new section 5.5(2), which is an obligatory shift of the considerations of impacts of a proposed development that will likely affect the environment “in a manner that is proportionate to the nature and risk of the activity”.  In our opinion, this could lead to a more risk-based approach from Council, in which more ‘low-risk’ projects can be streamlined through the approval process, and a more realistic assessment of risk can be applied to larger projects.

Next Stage

The NSW Governor signed the Bill, and it formally assented as an Act on 24 November 2025; however, it has yet to come into force, and the date of proclamation has not been confirmed.

For queries in relation to the above proposed amendments, please contact our town planning team, who would be happy to discuss further.                                                                                                                                                                 

Telephone – 1300 794 300
Email – enquiry@tfa.com.au
Website – www.tfa.com.au