Planning Act 2023

This Act provides a planning regime for the ACT consistent with the responsibilities of the Territory under the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act 1988 (Cwlth).

The key elements of this Act are as follows:

the planning strategy—setting out the long‑term strategic direction and desired future planning outcomes for the Territory;

district strategies—setting out the strategic direction and desired future planning outcomes for districts;

the territory plan—setting out the desired planning outcomes, land use zones and development assessment provisions;

the leasing system—setting out the tenure and use arrangements for land in the ACT;

the development assessment and approval system—setting out the processes for assessing and deciding development applications and promoting desired planning outcomes for the Territory by—

categorising development; and

providing the application and assessment requirements for different categories of development; and

providing a process for making, receiving, assessing and deciding development applications; and

establishing rights and responsibilities in relation to development approvals;

Ministerial powers—to identify priority development proposals for progressing through the development approval system;

the compliance and enforcement framework—which sets out a variety of offences and enforcement arrangements;

review processes—for internally and externally reviewing administrative decisions;

access to information provisions—which outline what information is available to the public and how it is accessible.

Subsection (2) is intended only as a guide to readers.