I rise to speak in support of the Planning Amendment (Better Decisions Made Faster) Bill 2025, a bill that reflects exactly what good governments should do: listen to their people, act on what they hear and build a better future through thoughtful reform. This bill is about creating a planning system that is modern, efficient, transparent and, above all, fair, a system that works for local communities, for council, for industry and for every Victorian who just wants a fair shot at finding a home in the community that they love.
The Planning and Environment Act 1987 has served Victoria for almost 40 years, but it was written in another era. It was crafted when our state’s population was barely 4 million, where were still building the foundations of modern Melbourne and where the pace of change social, economic and technological was far slower than today. Since then Victoria has grown dramatically. We are now up to more than 7.2 million people, and by 2050 that number will swell to over 10 million. That is the equivalent of adding the populations of Brisbane and Adelaide combined. The planning system that once worked well is now buckling under the weight of that growth. It is slow, cumbersome and often confusing. The average planning permit takes around 140 days to process, and if there is even one objection that can blow out to 300 days or more. It is costing Victorian families time, opportunity and money, and the cumulative cost of those delays is estimated to be more than $1 billion a year in lost economic activity. That is why this bill matters. It is about streamlining the planning process, cutting unnecessary red tape and ensuring decisions are made with integrity, transparency and pace and not held up by outdated processes or endless procedural wrangling.
The bill delivers two major reforms that sit at the heart of our government’s housing statement and Plan for Victoria. Three new pathways for planning scheme amendments based on complexity and risk and three new assessment streams for planning permit applications will ensure simple proposals are not trapped in the same queue as complex ones. Together these changes will make planning decisions clearer, faster and fairer, allowing more homes to be built sooner while maintaining proper oversight and community engagement. At the moment a planning scheme amendment, even a straightforward one, takes on average more than two years. That is simply untenable when Victoria needs more homes and better infrastructure now.
This bill introduces a smarter tiered approach: low-impact amendments – straightforward matters such as minor zoning updates or corrections – in which councils will consult with affected landowners and report directly to the minister for timely decision; moderate impact amendments, proposals requiring some public notice and exhibition but not the full rigour of a planning panel unless the minister deems it necessary; and high-impact amendments – complex or sensitive proposals that warrant a full public exhibition and an independent panel review.
This is proportional regulation, a principle that underpins good governance. It ensures scrutiny where it is needed and speed where it is sensible. Crucially, these reforms do not weaken transparency; they strengthen it. The bill mandates public engagement plans, disclosure of financial interests and the publication of reports showing how community submissions have influenced decisions. That means clearer processes, fewer surprises and greater trust in the system.
The same logic applies to planning permits. Right now, a family wanting to build a townhouse or a small duplex faces the same approval process as a developer that is proposing a 20-storey tower. It is inefficient and unfair, and this bill fixes that by introducing three new assessment types. Type 1 are low-risk, code-compliant applications. Simple developments like dual occupancies or small dwellings that meet clear design codes can be approved within 10 days with no public notice, because the standards are already met. Type 2 are moderate-risk, code-based applications. These will have a 30-day timeframe, streamlining referrals and limiting notice requirements to only proposals where there is genuine local impact. Type 3 are complex applications. These will remain subject to full notice, public exhibition and review rights, protecting community input for proposals that truly warrant it. For too long our planning system has been a one-size-fits-all bottleneck. These reforms mean people building a simple home will not be stuck behind a major apartment development. It is about fairness and common sense.
Some have asked whether these changes remove community voices from the process. Let us be clear: they do not. Victoria already has some of the broadest third-party appeal rights in the country. Under this bill those rights will remain for developments that have a genuine impact on neighbours and the wider community – the type 3 applications. What changes is that objections and appeals will be limited to those directly notified – people genuinely affected by a proposal, not individuals or groups with no connection to the site. That is a fair balance between the right to be heard and the need to prevent vexatious delays.
These reforms are not just about efficiency for efficiency’s sake; they are about unlocking more than $900 million in economic value each year and accelerating the delivery of 800,000 homes we have committed to build over the next decade. Right now Victoria leads the nation in home approvals and completions, with 56,000 homes approved in the 12 months to September 2025 – 16,500 more than Queensland and 4500 more than New South Wales. But we know there is more to do. Housing is not just a market challenge, it is a moral one. Every delay in the planning system means a young person waiting longer to move out, an older couple unable to downsize or a family priced out of the area they love. I have that exact issue in the area of Glen Waverley, where often we have got three generations living in a household – a couple in their 30s or 40s with kids going to local schools and a set of grandparents helping get the kids to and from school. But what happens when those kids become 23, 24 is that they literally have to move an hour away –
(John Mullahy to Lauren Kathage) to your electorate or down to Cranbourne – essentially removing that ability to have those close family connections that they have been brought up with in those three-generation households. So this bill is all about making sure that we give more options to those kids locally.
The Plan for Victoria underpins this bill. It is the most extensive community-led planning process in our state’s history, engaging more than 110,000 Victorians – young people, multicultural groups, regional communities, local councils and industry experts. This is not planning done to communities; it is planning done with them. Through that engagement Victorians told us they want a system that is fair, transparent and responsive – a system that builds the homes we need while protecting what we love about where we live. They also told us they want a planning system that recognises and respects the rights, interests and values of traditional owners. For the first time, this bill makes that an explicit objective of the Planning and Environment Act 1987. It ensures that registered Aboriginal parties receive notice of strategic planning proposals affecting country, enabling early input and partnership and not late-stage conflict. This is reconciliation in action, embedding respect for country into the way we plan for our shared future.
Our councils are on the front line of the planning system. They do the day-to-day work – assessing permits, engaging with communities and making tough local decisions. This bill supports councils by providing clearer frameworks, new cost-recovery mechanisms and better tools for enforcement and compliance.
It also ensures that referral authorities, those government agencies that often slow the process, must meet prescribed timeframes or their silence will be taken as consent. That is accountability in both directions: faster outcomes for applicants and clearer obligations for authorities.
One of the most significant features of this bill is its emphasis on integrity. It directly responds to the recommendations from the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s Operation Sandon inquiry. It requires the disclosure of financial interests by both applicants and submitters, extends the time for prosecutions of planning offences and strengthens compliance and enforcement powers. It also ensures parliamentary scrutiny of planning scheme amendments through the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994, so approved amendments remain subject to review by the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee, just as all other subordinate legislation is. That means greater transparency, not less. These reforms are about restoring faith in the system, ensuring that every decision, whether made by a council, a panel or the minister, can be trusted by the community that it affects.
In my own electorate of Glen Waverley I see the need for this reform every day. Families want to live close to the good schools, transport and community facilities, but they are often locked out by outdated planning rules and unnecessary delays. This bill will help ensure we get more homes built near the activity centres and along train and tram corridors. In well-connected suburbs like ours, it will be about ensuring that future generations, including the young people growing up in Glen Waverley today, can one day get a house in Glen Waverley. It is also making sure that the growth happens in the right way – sustainable, inclusive and supported by good local planning – because while we need more homes, we also need great neighbourhoods with parks, services and community spaces that make life there so special: Jells Park, ngarrak nakorang wilam park and the Suburban Rail Loop coming through, kicking off in 2035. We want to have more homes and more apartments and townhouses around that area so the next generation, after they have finished uni, can move into the area and build a life for themselves and their family in the great Glen Waverley district. I am very happy that this bill will, hopefully, get through this house. I commend the bill to the house.