Project approval

• Adopt the Business Council’s best practice model for major project approval as a priority to speed up approvals and provide greater certainty for investors and the community.
• The model supports decision making within 12 months under a single application, single assessment and single approval approach. It involves:
  • greater strategic planning with better community consultation to direct future land uses and conditions for approval
  • giving primary responsibility for approvals to a single agency, eliminating the need for investors to liaise with multiple departments
  • a single application filed after a pre-application consultation process that gives communities a voice right from the start
  • standardised terms of reference, Environmental Impact Statements and conditions of approval
  • a one-year umbrella time frame during which a decision should be made
  • better targeted conditions on approvals that are directly linked to environmental outcomes
  • streamlined administration and compliance through better coordination between agencies
  • published data about time taken by agencies to manage applications, their adherence to best practice and how they can improve.