The Governor has issued further orders that change administrative arrangements and Ministerial responsibilities in NSW. These orders are the Administrative Arrangements (Administration of Acts—General) Order (No 2) 2019 (‘General Order‘), Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Ministers) Order (No 2) 2019 (‘Ministers Order‘),…

The Minister for Planning has given a new direction to local councils which impacts on the negotiation of planning agreements (‘VPA‘) which include the provision of affordable housing (‘VPAs for Affordable Housing’). Under s7.32 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment…

Following the return of the Coalition government on 23 March 2019, the Governor has issued Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes – Public Service Agencies) Order 2019, Administrative Arrangements (Administration of Acts—General) Order 2019 and Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes—Ministers) Order 2019 (together…

The use of  information technology  systems for internal management functions, to provide services and information to their communities and to exercise regulatory functions is integral to the day to day operation of governmental organisations. External providers are commonly used to…

A recent decision of the NSW Court of Appeal deals with whether land being developed for the purpose of residential apartments can be categorised as ‘residential’ for rating purposes under s516 of the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act).

On 26 October 2018 the NSW Parliament passed legislation to introduce a statutory duty on both public sector agencies and private organisations to prevent the abuse of children. 

Generally proceedings challenging an administrative decision must be commenced within 3 months of the decision being made.  However, the Court does have the discretion to vary this time frame. Three recent decisions in the Land and Environment Court involving challenges…

The Land and Environment Court recently considered the relevance of previous development consents on a site to the question of whether the floor space ratio (‘FSR’) standard was unreasonable or unnecessary in the circumstances of a fresh application for development…

Last year we discussed what constitutes BASIX affected development and questioned whether boarding house rooms are capable of constituting separate dwellings, therefore making a boarding house a BASIX affected building (see our previous blog). The Land and Environment Court (Court)…

The Commonwealth Government’s recent reforms to the Privacy Act 1988 have taken effect, heralding new obligations for a number of organisations across the country. This article will consider what those obligations are, who is affected, and how organisations will be required…

Following our blog on 9 March 2018, the Minister for Primary Industries has made a new Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2018 (‘Code‘) that commenced on 10 March 2018. The Code is identical in substance to the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code…

On 23 February 2018, the Biodiversity Conservation (Savings and Transitional) Amendment Regulation 2018 (Amending Regulation) was released. The Amending Regulation extends the application of the pre 25 August 2017 provisions (‘former provisions’) of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 (‘EPA Act‘) relating…