National agreement has been reached to ensure planning approvals maintain their usual pace throughout the COVID-19 pandemic which will protect jobs, businesses and the economy now and into the future.
Planning Ministers from every State and Territory, the President of the Australian Local Government Association and myself have agreed a set of principles on how our planning systems should operate during this time.
The impact of COVID-19 means swift changes to planning regimes are necessary to ensure development applications can still be approved at their usual pace and other planning regulations amended to deal with the twin health and economic crises.
Changes will be made on a State by State basis, but the principles are designed to ensure the community can still have confidence in our planning systems.
Amendments to our planning systems will ensure that governments and the development community can support the economic recovery effort.
We have also committed to develop and adopt lessons learnt throughout this
time including through the use of technology and other planning processes, response to future emergency events, sharing of information between jurisdictions and improvements to planning systems for potential ongoing implementation once we return to business as usual.
Ministers agreed to review the principles in June 2020 to ensure they are still fit-for-purpose to support the economic recovery phase.
Ensuring building and construction activity, and other vital sectors of our economy, can continue to operate at as close to normal levels as possible while meeting public and workplace health and safety requirements will ensure our economic slow-down is not as severe, and we can more quickly bounce back.
