COVID-19 response

To assist Queensland's economic recovery, temporary changes have been made to the planning framework to reduce red tape and simplify planning approvals. This means local government can be more flexible and responsive in supporting economic activity in their communities enabling business to recommence and development and construction to occur.

Economic support initiatives give local governments options to:

• facilitate the removal of unnecessary barriers for low risk uses
• provide incentives and certainty to ensure economic value-adding uses can recommence or be established across the state where appropriate
• encourage investment as soon as possible and in-line with community expectations.

The economic support initiative amendments will be in place until 18 September 2022 and local governments can opt to use the amendments recognising that some local government planning schemes may already achieve some or all of the four proposals. Each local government will have the ability to tailor the provisions for their local area by identifying the zones and uses to suit their local needs.

Implementation guidance to support local governments applying these temporary planning changes

• Planning Regulation amendments overview
• Economic support initiatives: Supporting information for provisions in the Planning Regulation 2017

See Planning Regulation 2017 for more information

Templates for the economic support instrument and notices

• Adoption notice template
• Revocation notice template
• Economic support instrument template

A register of each local government’s adoption of an economic support instrument can be viewed below.

The Development Assessment Rules (DA Rules) set out how development applications are assessed in Queensland. It outlines the process for lodging, assessing and deciding a development application and, importantly, how the public is notified about a development application.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, temporary measures were put in place to ensure communities remained informed about development in their local area. These changes are now a permanent part of the planning framework. DA Rules amendments overview.

The Minister's Guidelines and Rules (MGR) sets out rules and processes for a range of activities, including local government plan-making, local government infrastructure plans and Ministerial and local government designations. Changes to the MGR streamline some of these processes to enable the delivery of critical infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, at a time when job creation is a high priority.

The changes also improve flexibility for local governments to update the infrastructure plans to ensure they respond to changing circumstances. See MGR amendments overview.

This temporary regulation established requirements for keeping documents physically available for inspection and purchase in recognition of health and safety restrictions. It enabled local governments to continue to meet their statutory obligations.

The regulation was in effect until 30 April 2022.