ePlanning System

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Planning. Can the minister update the house on how innovation and technology will help streamline South Australia's planning system and boost economic development?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (14:44): I think everyone in this house would be well aware of the largely bipartisan reforms that were passed through this parliament—coming up to the almost four-year anniversary, in fact—through the Legislative Council. It was a long end to that year with the many questions and the hundreds of amendments that were passed on that bill.

One of the most key and exciting reforms as part of that was the nation's first move towards a proper statewide e-planning system, something that we as a government have embraced fully as a way to deliver innovation in the planning space, to drive efficiency and to drive lower cost outcomes for everybody in the planning system.

Fundamentally, what we had was a system that was complex, that was scattergun in its approach and one that was extremely timely to engage with by all parties. In fact, talking to a number of people who put in development applications, the routine was that on a Friday afternoon you would do your ring-around of each council to try to find out if your application had progressed. Essentially, then, you would try to understand whether there had been any movement in that preceding week.

Can I say that there has been some work done and we are very close now to seeing this e-planning portal come to fruition to deliver innovation and better services in this space. To date, the portal has been launched. We have an online submission form that is there for ministerial DPAs and other planning matters around consultation. We have a single land use and land division public development application register. The State Planning Commission is there, all online, as well as a portal between council and the department on direct communications.

Once fully implemented, this e-planning portal will see people able to lodge development applications online using a single form, able to monitor and track the progress of their application in real time, essentially being able to see as it clicks from one step to the next in the system, able to receive decision notices electronically, able to gain 24/7 access to searchable and reliable information, as well as a whole series of other things.

What this system will do for councils is provide them with the e-planning portal, something that some councils have invested in. Now, instead of having to have a standalone portal, they will have something that speaks to the state government's portal, essentially being the same thing. It will also help those who are putting in development applications.

Perhaps the thing that hasn't gone as noticed is how it's actually going to help the community to engage. One of the biggest bits of feedback I get about any planning reform is that it is always difficult to understand. It is a complex environment. Certainly, the new code is 3,000 pages, which is still quite a lot for people to get through. Afterwards, essentially, we will have zero pages in a statewide plan because everything will be online.

The opportunity for people to be able to click on a bit of land and see all the policies that apply to that bit of land drop down right in front of them, rather than having to search through bits of paper is a key reform that is going to help people who otherwise don't get the complexities of the planning system to be able to grapple with it straight away in real time and get real information.

We think that is a huge step forward for our state and one that is going to help us reduce costs for people who want to help build and grow our state because, as part of this process, we will be able to track and monitor councils' performance. We will also put the state government's performance on the line for how we progress in terms of the time frames to get to a decision. All of this is going to help grow jobs and grow investment in our state, which we know is key to seeing our state prosper as we move forward.