Practitioner Information - Legislation & Regulations

This Practitioner Information section of the Planning SA website will provide regular explanatory information about recent, forthcoming and proposed changes to Development Legislation and Regulations.

Act and Regulations

Up to date versions of the Development Act and Development Regulations can be found online on the SA Legislation website:

Legislation for debate 

The Development (Regulated Trees) Amendment Bill was introduced on 1 May 2007. Detailed information, including copies of the Bill and links to the debate, can be found via the links below:

Recent amendments

Legislation passed

The most recent amendments to the Development Act have been via the:

Detailed information on each of the Acts, including links to the debates, can be found via the links above.

Regulations

From 1 September 2008 the Development Regulations 2008 will supersede the Development Regulations 1993.

The Subordinate Legislation Act 1978 establishes a process to ensure that all regulations are periodically reviewed so that they are relevant and up-to-date. Under this process, all regulations expire 10 years after they are made, but can be extended for up to four years. Regulations must be remade prior to expiry to ensure continuity.

The Development Regulations 1993 are due to expire on 1 September 2008 (with no further opportunity to extend). As a result a new set of Development Regulations (the Development Regulations 2008) will come into effect on 1 September 2008 and will be Gazetted on Thursday 28 August 2008.

In summary, the Development Regulations have been revised to remove typographical errors, obsolete references and numbering amendments.  The only substantive change to their contents has been as follows:

  • An adjustment to the definition of ‘site’ prescribed under Schedule 1 to resolve ambiguity created by recent Court determinations.  The revised definition of site now includes the words ‘(whether or not comprising a separate or entire allotment)’.
  • Schedule 4 of the Regulations regarding Clauses 1(1)(c) and 1(2). The previous Regulations contained an obsolete power (which was limited by a sunset clause) for the Minister to exclude demolition as a complying form of development in designated areas. That power has been retained, without the associated sunset clause.
  • Three Regulations are deleted in the revised Regulations. These are:
    • Reference to Anxious Bay in Schedule 9 part 1 Clause 9(1)(c)
    • Reference to the MFP (The Levels) Zone in Schedule 9 Part 1 Clause 2(2) and Part 2 Clause 19, and
    • Regulation 103(1)(b) concerning the City of Adelaide Development Plan 

The most recent amendments to the Development Regulations can be found on the Recent changes to the Development Regulations page. 

System Indicator Regulations

As part of a program to improve the operation of the planning and development system, a set of System Indicators relating to strategic planning, development policy formulation, development assessment, appeals and compliance issues has been established.

These System Indicators measure the number and timeliness of statutory actions and decisions, and apply to councils, Development Assessment Panels, consultation and referral agencies (including Planning SA), the Development Assessment Commission, private building certifiers and the ERD Court. For more detail about the System Indicator Regulations please see the System Indicator Regulations page. 

Further information

For further information please contact the Planning SA System Improvement branch through the listing on the Contact Us page.