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Reasonable searches in GIPA Act applications
A decision of the Appeal Panel of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal), changed the way that the Tribunal considers applications for review under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (GIPA Act) where an agency finds that information…
ALERT: Proposed reforms to clause 4.6
The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) has released a discussion paper on proposed amendments to clause 4.6 of the Standard Instrument – Principal Local Environment Plan (Standard Instrument LEP). Clause 4.6 of the Standard Instrument LEP sets out…
NSW Government Finalises Regulatory Framework for Short-term Rental Accommodation
UPDATE 14 April 2021 – Following its receipt of significant feedback from key stakeholders, including local Councils, regarding the timeline for the introduction of the new regulatory framework for short-term rental accommodation discussed in this post, the State government has…
Conflicting Proposals for Reforms to the EPBC Act: Is the end of Bilateral Agreements in sight?
Reforms are proposed to the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). On 29 October 2019, the Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Sussan Ley MP, commissioned the second Independent Review of the EPBC Act. Professor Graeme…
Proposed Changes to Rating: New Environmental Land Category
In December 2020, the State Government released for public consultation, an Exposure Draft of the Local Government Amendment (Rates) Bill 2021 (Rates Amendment Bill), and a consultation guide entitled Towards a Fairer Rating System (Consultation Guide). The Rates Amendment Bill aims to…
Commencement of Development Consents: Requirement for Registration on the NSW Planning Portal
With the commencement of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning Portal) Regulation 2020 on 1 July 2020, the NSW planning portal became the central platform for the making of development applications (and other applications) with a consent authority. To…
COVID-19 – Investigations via AVL
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Acts were amended to enable authorised officers and investigation officers to take evidence and answers to questions by audio link or audio visual link. Those provisions were repealed on 13 November…
Council investigation notices: what to do with the information received?
A recent decision in Land and Environment Court confirms that a prosecutor can use information obtained under a compulsory investigative notice for the purposes of gathering further evidence in prosecution proceedings. In this case the Court rejected a argument that…
When is excluded information under the GIPA Act really excluded?
The Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 is generally assumed to have been designed to open up government information to the public. Nevertheless, the Act identifies broad categories of ‘excluded information‘ of certain agencies which are subject to a conclusive presumption…
UPDATE – Extension of COVID Prescribed Period and Special Provisions
We previously posted a blog regarding the enactment of the COVID-19 Legislation Amendment (Emergency Measures) Act 2020 (Emergency Measures Act) which amended various statutes including the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) and the Local Government Act 1993…
Powers of entry to residential land clarified
This decision relates to the latest instalment of the cases involving members of the Bobolas family and Waverley Council (‘Council‘) with the Council issuing orders to require or allow the clean-up of the accumulation of waste that creates a public…
Exempt development creates practical problems for enforcement
The Land and Environment Court (LEC) was recently required to consider whether certain work was exempt as ‘minor’ works under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 (Codes SEPP). The issue arose in the course of…
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