New Practice Direction 19 (Minor Variations)

The inconsistent application and consideration of minor variations in development applications is a long-standing area of contention in the planning system (and the former planning system under the Development Act 1993).

On 23 May 2025 the State Planning Commission published a new Practice Direction 19 (Minor Variations) to address this contention. The new practice direction is now operational.

The publication of Practice Direction 19 also addresses a recommendation from the Expert Panel in their 2023 Planning System Implementation Review. Minor variations were an area of the planning system that generated several submissions due to issues related to:

• delays in issuing development approvals, as councils were ‘checking’ planning consents granted by Accredited Professionals
• the incorrect and unreasonable application of ‘minor variations’ to deemed-to-satisfy planning requirements
• the lack of a definition of minor variation in the legislative framework.

Practice Direction 19 will clarify and specify the steps that must be followed by any Accredited Professional (planning level 3 or higher) when determining a variation to deemed-to-satisfy criteria or a variation to a previously authorised planning consent.

The practice direction outlines the procedural steps to guide better and more consistent determinations, including:

• clarifying the jurisdiction of authorities to make determinations
• defining terms used
• principles for determining a minor variation
• precluding private Accredited Professionals from making decisions on minor variations when connected to public notification or referral triggers
• requiring appropriate justification to be documented in the SA planning portal.

The publishing of the practice direction follows on from targeted engagement of planning accredited professionals and peak industry bodies in 2024 and early 2025.

The Commission will monitor the effectiveness of the practice direction for a 12-month period to inform other related Expert Panel recommendations such as Recommendation 5 (Phase 2) that “only Planning Accredited Professional Level 1 (Assessment Manager) practitioners may determine minor variations”.

Should you require further information about the new practice direction, please contact PlanSA via email plansa@sa.gov.au or on 1800 752 664.