Determination of a Code Amendment

Department processes the Code Amendment

On receipt of the final Engagement Report and final proposed Code Amendment from the Designated Entity, the department will:

• confirm that all information requirements have been met. The Code Amendment will be officially lodged and acknowledged on receipt of all the information.
• assess the compliance of the engagement processes undertaken for the proposed Code Amendment against the requirements of the Community Engagement Charter. The department will refer the Code Amendment to the Commission if:
  1. there has been a complaint made to the department about the engagement process; or
  2. the Chief Executive of the department has undertaken the engagement process as the Designated Entity; or
  3. the Commission’s delegate in the department forms the view that the Charter has not been complied with.

State Planning Commission assesses compliance with the Charter

If the Code Amendment is referred by the department to the Commission following the department’s assessment of compliance with the Charter, the Commission:

• will make a formal determination regarding compliance with the Community Engagement Charter under section 44(12)(a) of the Act
• if the Commission determines that the Charter has not been complied with, the Commission may direct the Designated Entity to undertake further engagement in order to comply with the Charter. In this case, the Designated Entity may need to update and resubmit the Engagement Report in order to process the Code Amendment.

If the Commission’s direction is not complied with within 15 business days, the Commission may take any action required by its direction and recover the reasonable costs and expenses of doing so from the Designated Entity.

Minister consults with the Commission

After the final Engagement Report and Code Amendment are provided to the Minister, then the Minister:

• may consult with the Commission if the Minister considers the matter significant (for example, this may include significant objections to a proposed Code Amendment)
• must consult with the Commission for Code Amendments which involve an agreement on the recovery of costs for the Code Amendment. This could include costs recovered by a council or the Chief Executive of the department, where they are undertaking a Code Amendment on behalf of a private proponent.

Determination by the Minister

Following consultation with the Commission (if required) the Minister may decide to:

• adopt the Code Amendment as proposed and as outlined in the Engagement Report
• make alterations to the proposed Code Amendment and adopt the Code Amendment as altered
• divide the Code Amendment into separate parts and adopt one or more of those parts
• determine that the Code Amendment should not proceed.

The Code Amendment, once approved, will be consolidated within the online Planning and Design Code. The Code Amendment will have effect from the date on which this online consolidation occurs.

The following documents will be published within 5 business days of the Minister’s approval of the Code Amendment:

• the Engagement Report prepared and provided to the Minister by the Designated Entity
• any advice provided by the Commission following consultation by the Minister on the proposed Code Amendment.

The Designated Entity and the relevant council(s) will be directly notified of the Code Amendment coming into effect.