Commonwealth environmental approval for a residential subdivision

The federal approval track that runs alongside -- not instead of -- state planning approval. Where triggered on a housing project it is commonly the longest single step in the chain, and almost none of its elapsed time is visible in state planning statistics.

developmentGreenfield residential subdivision on land supporting a listed threatened species or ecological community skeleton compare across jurisdictions

This is a structural skeleton, not a measured process. The steps, the authorities and the sequence are researched from this jurisdiction's published requirements and are broadly right. The durations are a uniform template applied across all jurisdictions, so the differences between them on the comparison page are mostly an artefact of that template rather than evidence about Australia. Do not quote the day counts. Replacing them with sourced figures for even one jurisdiction would make this page genuinely useful.

755 days elapsed
longest dependent chain

10 discrete steps
across 1 bodies

12% waiting on availability
scheduling or queue, not assessment

0 days saved by concurrency
vs. 755 if run end-to-end

Where the time goes

Critical-path days only. Steps that run alongside others are real work but do not lengthen the process, so counting them here would overstate the prize.

third party	270d	Waiting on an external body outside the regulator's control.
applicant	245d	Waiting on the applicant to supply or fix something.
assessment	130d	Someone is genuinely evaluating the merits.
queue	90d	Waiting behind unrelated work in a backlog.
statutory	20d	A legislated period that must elapse regardless of readiness.

90 of 755 elapsed days are spent waiting for a person or a meeting rather than for a judgement to be formed. Removing that time changes no assessment standard and lowers no bar -- it is the cost of scheduling alone.

The process, step by step

Applies when: The action is likely to have a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance. This is a self-assessed trigger: the proponent decides whether to refer, and the department decides whether approval is required.

#	Step	Who	Why it waits	Clock	Typical	Basis
1	Ecological survey and impact assessment application Field survey to establish presence of listed species and communities, prepared to a standard the department will accept.	—	third party	—	270 estimate	—
2	Refer the action to the department application after Ecological survey and impact assessment 480d slack	Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water	applicant	—	5 legislated	EPBC Act 1999 (Cth), s 68
3	Controlled action decision decision The department decides whether the action needs approval at all. after Refer the action to the department 440d slack	Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water	assessment	28	40 legislated	EPBC Act 1999 (Cth), s 75
4	Decision on assessment approach decision Whether the action is assessed on preliminary documentation, by public environment report, by environmental impact statement, or under an accredited state process. after Controlled action decision 410d slack	Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water	assessment	28	30 legislated	EPBC Act 1999 (Cth), s 87
5	Prepare assessment documentation application Preliminary documentation or an environmental impact statement, addressing the guidelines the department sets. after Decision on assessment approach 230d slack	—	applicant	—	180 estimate	—
6	Public comment on the documentation notification after Prepare assessment documentation 210d slack	Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water	statutory	20	20 legislated	EPBC Act 1999 (Cth), ss 93-95
7	Respond to submissions and finalise documentation application after Public comment on the documentation 150d slack	—	applicant	—	60 estimate	—
8	Departmental assessment and recommendation report assessment after Respond to submissions and finalise documentation 60d slack	Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water	queue	—	90 estimate	EPBC Act 1999 (Cth), s 100
9	Approval decision and conditions decision after Departmental assessment and recommendation report	Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water	assessment	56	60 legislated	EPBC Act 1999 (Cth), s 133
10	Secure and register environmental offsets registration only if triggered Acquire, protect and legally secure offset land to satisfy the approval conditions. Triggered when: The approval is conditioned on offsets, which for a residential subdivision affecting listed species it usually is. after Approval decision and conditions	—	third party	—	180 estimate	—

on the critical path scheduling/queue = delay not caused by the assessment itself

Proposed changes

Publish and reuse ecological survey data instead of resurveying digitise ~180d
The longest single delay in federal environmental approval happens before any application exists: waiting for the season in which a species can lawfully be surveyed. Survey data is collected at proponents' expense, submitted to government, and then not made usable by the next proponent on the next block.
Assess once under an accredited state process, decide twice merge ~150d
Where a project needs both state and Commonwealth environmental approval, two documents are prepared, two consultations are run and two assessments are performed on the same impacts. Assessment bilateral agreements already allow one assessment to serve both decisions — they are simply not in place for most of the country.

Sources

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), Parts 7-9
ANAO, Auditor-General Report No. 47 of 2019-20, Referrals, Assessments and Approvals of Controlled Actions under the EPBC Act
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, published referral and assessment guidance

Something wrong here?

This page is wrong in some way -- every page like it is. If you have run this process, the most useful thing you can do is tell us which step took longer than we say and why. Edit data/processes/au-epbc-referral.toml and open a pull request, or send us the correction.