Posted on September 2, 2026 by Dominic Smith and Liam Mulligan 2

ALERT: Faster Assessments Incentive Program

The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has today published an update on the so-called Faster Assessments Incentive Program (FAIP) to accompany the Statement of Expectations Order 2026 (SOE Order) dated on 1 July 2026. The FAIP and the SOE Order are likely to have an impact on the assessment of DAs and modification applications by subject local councils.

The key aspects of the FAIP and SOE Order are set out below.

Lodgment and initial assessment

The SOE Order requires applications to be lodged (that is, issuing an invoice for the DA fee) by Councils as soon as practicable and within an average of seven days after submission.

This includes reviewing the adequacy of an application and issuing an invoice within four days, with applicants given three business days for payment. Councils must balance these timeframes with compliance with the procedural and reporting requirements for variations to development standards.

Internal referrals

The SOE Order also deals with the timing of internal referrals, which are expected to be completed within 21 days after an application is lodged.

Internal specialist referrals form a significant component of the assessment process and the 21-day expectation means Council will need to manage referrals very effectively. This will require early identification of referral requirements, clear internal deadlines and active monitoring of outstanding responses as delays in internal referrals will reduce the remaining time available to the assessing officer to consider submissions, obtain additional information, prepare the assessment report and determine the application within the applicable overall benchmark.

Overall DA assessment and determination

Most significantly, the expectation is now that Councils determine DAs within the lesser of:

1. its average assessment time for the previous financial year; or
2. the Ministerial benchmark.

The benchmark is the lesser of Council’s previous financial year average or an average of:

• 90 days from lodgement from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027;
• 80 days from lodgement from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2028; and
• 65 days from lodgement from 1 July 2028 onwards.

These are not simply fixed maximum targets: if a Council’s previous average is already below the prescribed benchmark, the lower previous-year average becomes the relevant expectation. The policy therefore creates continuing pressure to maintain or improve assessment performance.

Modification applications

The policy also imposes differentiated timeframes for the lodgment and determination of MAs.

MAs should be lodged within an average of seven days, while applications under s 4.55(1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) are expected to be determined within 14 days.

For modifications under s4.55(1A) of the EPA Act, the benchmark reduces from 65 days in 2026–27 to 55 days in 2027–28 and 40 days from July 2028 and, for those under s 4.55(2), the corresponding periods are 85, 75 and 70 days.

As with DAs, Council must achieve the lesser of the prescribed benchmark and its previous financial year average. The practical impact is that modification applications will need to be identified and managed according to their statutory category from an early stage.

Local Planning Panel matters

The Program and SOE Order also affect the final determination stage for applications referred to a Local Planning Panel. The broader DA assessment benchmarks expressly include applications determined by a Local Planning Panel, meaning that referral to the Panel does not remove an application from Council’s overall performance expectations. In addition, the Statement provides that a Local Planning Panel should determine relevant applications as soon as practicable and within an average of 20 days after Council has finalised its assessment report.

Implications

This FAIP is described as an incentive framework, but it is one which financially rewards Councils for making speedy determinations. Whether speedy planning is always effective or orderly planning is a matter about which minds will differ, as is the question about whether funding for community infrastructure should be tied directly to the speed at which planning applications are determined.

The SEO Order and the FAIP introduce expectations to ensure infrastructure is delivered alongside housing, including requiring Councils to spend a proportion of developer contributions each year to fund essential infrastructure such as roads, parks, community facilities, active transport connections, sporting and recreational infrastructure, and public domain improvements for growing communities.

Round 2 is now open and provides an additional $67 million for eligible councils that reduce average assessment timeframes in the 2025–26 financial year.

You can access a copy of the Faster Assessments Incentive Program website including the updated Statement of Expectations Order 2026 here and Program Guidelines here.

If you have any questions regarding this article, please leave a comment below or contact Liam Mulligan (02) 8235 9715 or Dominic Smith.