The Development Assessment Forum (DAF) was formed in 1998 to bring together the relevant parties to reach agreement on ways to streamline the processes used for development approval and cut red tape – without sacrificing the quality of the decision making.

Through its linkages with the State Planning agencies, the Forum seeks to provide advice and recommendations to Local Government and Planning Ministers and stimulate an ongoing discussion about the opportunities for development assessment reform.

The Forum was established following the Report of the Small Business Deregulation Taskforce in November 1996 – Time for Business which found that:

“Small business is constantly challenged by the array of rules and regulations covering every area of business activity. The Task Force examined the paperwork and compliance costs in a number of areas – the building industry, environment, food, chemicals, pharmacies and child-care.

The Task Force proposes that:

• Local Government works with States and Territories to change its approval processes to reduce duplication of building and development regulations;
• the three levels of government develop a reform strategy for referral and concurrence in the building and development industry by 1 July 1997;
• the mutual recognition and accreditation processes established by the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment be further developed and implemented;”

The Taskforce recommended that:

Recommendation 29
That the three spheres of government develop a reform strategy for referral and concurrence procedures in the building and development industry by 1 July 1997. The strategy should include a system for resolving problems between government agencies and ensuring the delegation of decision making to the lowest level practicable taking into account the scale of development.

Implementation strategy
A high level intergovernmental working group should be established as soon as possible to prepare a strategy for consideration by Ministers with a view to implementation on 1 July 1997.

Following this report, then Prime Minister, the Hon. John Howard released a statement More Time for Business (March 1997) which supported the recommendations of the Taskforce.

National Seamless Economy Reform Agenda

Housing Supply and Affordability Reform
In April 2010, COAG asked the Housing Supply and Affordability Reform Working Party to report back on an examination of the housing supply pipeline and government policies that may act as a barrier to supply or that stimulate demand for housing. The Housing Supply and Affordability Reform report focuses on land supply, infrastructure cost recovery and land use planning and approval processes.

The recommendations were endorsed by COAG in July (prior to the release of the report) through an out-of-session meeting.

The key recommendations for DAF that COAG has agreed to include:

• Jurisdictions will continue to work to improve the efficiency of (including the time frames involved in) referrals, development assessment and rezoning processes;
• States and Territories will continue to work towards greater use of code based frameworks for assessing residential development applications as appropriate; and
• States and Territories will maintain or establish (as applicable) an internal process to ensure state level consideration of the costs and benefits before local councils introduce planning and development requirements that are in addition to or exceed state planning and development requirements. Any proposed changes to existing arrangements in a State or Territory would be subject to the Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) requirements applying in that jurisdiction.
• The HSAR Working Party recommends that COAG agree that the National e DA Steering Committee should transition into the National ePlanning Steering Committee and report to COAG – through the relevant COAG sub group – on a National e-Planning Investment Plan by mid 2012.