Undertaking engagement on a Code Amendment

In order to prepare for engagement on a proposed Code Amendment, a Designated Entity should:

• Determine the purpose and objectives of the engagement.
• Determine what the “scope of influence” is for stakeholders taking part in the engagement – that is, determine what aspects of the Code Amendment stakeholders are able to influence, and what they cannot influence.
• For Code Amendments undertaken by Private Proponents, this will require clear communication of the scope of the proposed Code Amendment. For example, if a Code Amendment is initiated by a person with an interest in land, engagement on the Code Amendment should be clear that the scope of the Code Amendment will be limited to the land where the Designated Entity has an interest – as a result, there will be limited scope for stakeholders to influence this aspect of the Code Amendment as part of the engagement process.
• Identify relevant stakeholders who may have an interest or be impacted by the proposed Code Amendment, and what level of engagement is required.
• Consider the principles of the Community Engagement Charter. This will require consideration of how to provide stakeholders with the best available opportunity to contribute to the engagement.

Please refer to the Community Engagement Charter Toolkit for further information and resources on preparing for engagement on a Code Amendment.

The Community Engagement Charter requires preparation of an Engagement Plan prior to undertaking engagement on a Code Amendment. A template Engagement Plan for Code Amendments is located here (DOCX, 33 KB). While the Act and the Charter do not prescribe specific requirements for an Engagement Plan, it is recommended that the Engagement Plan incorporates:

• any minimum consultation prescribed in the Community Engagement Charter, including notice and consultation with:
  1. A council (or councils) where they are specifically impacted by a Code Amendment (using the template letter provided)
  2. the Local Government Association where the Code Amendment is generally relevant to councils (using the template letter provided)
• notice requirements in the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017, to owners or occupiers of land (or adjacent land) which is specifically impacted by the proposed Code Amendment (using the template Notice provided)
• any person or body to be consulted with, as specified by the State Planning Commission under section 73(6)(e) of the Act
• relevant conditions for engagement (if any) placed on the Proposal to Initiate by the Minister.

The Act requires that members of the public be able to participate in engagement on Code Amendments through the SA Planning portal. This, however, does not limit other websites (such as council websites, or websites of a private proponent) being used to publish a Code Amendment, in addition to the portal.

The Designated Entity will need to provide publication instructions to the Department, using the online form (DOCX, 24 KB). This will enable the department to prepare the portal for publication of the draft Code Amendment.

Please refer to the Community Engagement Charter Toolkit for further information and resources on planning engagement on a Code Amendment and preparation of an Engagement Plan.

The Designated Entity should undertake engagement by delivering the engagement activities provided in the Engagement Plan.

The Designated Entity may need to review and amend the Engagement Plan during the engagement process where:

• new issues or ideas emerge;
• more is learnt about the communities being engaged with; or
• resourcing needs change.

As the stages or activities of the engagement on the Code Amendment are completed, it is also important to close the loop with participants by providing them with information about how their feedback has been or will be used.

Note that pursuant to section 174(2) of the Local Government Act 1999 a person is entitled to obtain a copy of entries made in the record of ratepayer information (the assessment records) on payment of a fixed fee. As such, a Designated Entity (where not a council) can request a copy of owner information for the purposes of community engagement on a Code Amendment. The Designated Entity can also inspect the records at council in order to access the details. It should be noted that section 174(3) of the Local Government Act makes it a criminal offence to use such information for advertising, marketing or commercial purposes.

Summary and Assessment of Submissions

Following completion of engagement on a Code Amendment, the Designated Entity should review and summarise all submissions received. The Designated Entity should also undertake an assessment of the issues raised through consultation and determine whether any changes should be made to the proposed Code Amendment.

At this stage, the Designated Entity may also need to undertake further investigations or meet with government agencies to resolve identified issues.

If significant changes are made to the Code Amendment which may substantially alter the intent of the Code Amendment, then the Designated Entity should consider whether further consultation (and an update to the Engagement Plan) is required.

Preparation of Engagement Report

Following completion of the engagement on a Code Amendment, the Designated Entity must then prepare an Engagement Report in accordance with Practice Direction 2.

An Engagement Report for Code Amendments template (DOCX, 51 KB) is available. The Engagement Report should include:

• details of the engagement which has occurred on the Code Amendment
• the issues identified through the engagement and any outcomes arising following consideration of those issues by the Designated Entity
• an analysis and evaluation of the engagement undertaken against the principles of the Community Engagement Charter.

Once finalised, the Engagement Report is provided to the Minister for a decision, and then published on the portal. For Code Amendments which are not initiated by the Commission, the Minister may or may not seek advice from the Commission on the Engagement Report.

If parts of the Code Amendment require further investigations that may delay the implementation of other amendments, consideration can be given to requesting the Minister to “split” the Code Amendment. This allows the Minister to adopt parts of the Code Amendment while other parts continue to be investigated. In this case, the Engagement Report should reflect this when prepared.

Once finalised, the following documents should be provided to the department to process the final stages of the Code Amendment to the Minister:

• final Engagement Report – to be provided to the Minister under section 73(7) of the Act
• Drafting and Mapping Instructions Table - to allow the department to prepare the maps and policy to be included in the draft Code Amendment to be provided to the Minister (with any changes resulting from engagement).