A development application (DA) is a formal application for development that requires consent under the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. It is usually lodged with the local council for processing and determination, and consists of standard application forms, supporting technical reports and plans.  The NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE)’s ‘Development Assessment Best Practice Guide' describes the development assessment pr

Audit background NSW Government agencies engage consultants to provide advice to inform their decision-making. Using consultants can provide access to skills that are not necessary, sensible or economic for an agency to build or maintain itself. However, there are risks associated with the use of consultants. Some of these risks were raised in our State Finances 2021 report. The NSW Government made a commitment in 2019 to reduce spending on consultants

The NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme is intended to offset impacts on biodiversity due to development (for example: roads, buildings, and other infrastructure) that cannot otherwise be avoided. It aims to do this through in-perpetuity stewardship agreements with landholders to better manage biodiversity, generating credits that offset obligations created by development. This audit will assess whether the Department of Planning and Environment and the Bio

Coordination of Response to COVID-19 (auditees: NSW Health, NSW Police Force, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Department of Customer Service, Resilience NSW) This audit will assess the effectiveness of NSW Government agencies’ coordination of the COVID-19 response in selected LGAs (an “LGA of concern” and a regional LGA) after June 2021. We will address the audit objective with the following lines of inquiry: Line of Inquiry 1: Coordinated response