Build a major transmission line — concurrent easement pathway (Victoria)

Identical to the sequential pathway except for one dependency edge. Victoria removed it in 2026, explicitly because the sequence was delaying VNI West and the Western Renewables Link. This is the rare case where the reform this database would propose has already been enacted and can be measured.

energyA multi-hundred-kilometre high voltage transmission line designated actionable in the Integrated System Plan, crossing private agricultural land 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 Do not quote the day counts.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.

2955 days elapsed
longest dependent chain

10 discrete steps
across 5 bodies

0% waiting on availability
scheduling or queue, not assessment

1260 days saved by concurrency
vs. 4215 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.

assessment	1215d	Someone is genuinely evaluating the merits.
applicant	900d	Waiting on the applicant to supply or fix something.
third party	540d	Waiting on an external body outside the regulator's control.
statutory	300d	A legislated period that must elapse regardless of readiness.

The process, step by step

Applies when: An actionable ISP project in Victoria, following the 2026 amendments permitting compulsory easement acquisition to proceed concurrently with the environment effects process.

#	Step	Who	Why it waits	Clock	Typical	Basis
1	Identified as an actionable project in the Integrated System Plan assessment	Australian Energy Market Operator	assessment	—	365 estimate	—
2	Project specification consultation report and consultation notification after Identified as an actionable project in the Integrated System Plan 2470d slack	Transmission network service provider	statutory	—	120 estimate	National Electricity Rules, rule 5.15A
3	Project assessment draft report and consultation notification after Project specification consultation report and consultation 2290d slack	Transmission network service provider	statutory	—	180 estimate	National Electricity Rules, rule 5.15A
4	Project assessment conclusions report decision after Project assessment draft report and consultation 2170d slack	Transmission network service provider	assessment	—	120 estimate	National Electricity Rules, rule 5.15A
5	Contingent project application and revenue determination decision after Project assessment conclusions report 1990d slack	Australian Energy Regulator	assessment	—	180 estimate	National Electricity Rules, Chapter 6A
6	Route selection and landholder engagement application after Project assessment conclusions report 1630d slack	Transmission network service provider	third party	—	540 estimate	—
7	Commonwealth environmental approval decision after Route selection and landholder engagement 1090d slack	Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water	assessment	—	540 estimate	Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth)
8	Environment effects statement and assessment decision Scoping, technical reference group, exhibition, inquiry panel and the Minister's assessment. after Route selection and landholder engagement 900d slack	Victorian Minister for Planning (Environment Effects Statement)	assessment	—	730 estimate	Environment Effects Act 1978 (Vic)
9	Easement acquisition, concurrent with assessment registration Acquisition proceeds alongside the environment effects process rather than after it. after Route selection and landholder engagement 1090d slack	Transmission network service provider	third party	—	540 legislated	Electricity Industry Act 2000 (Vic), as amended 2026
10	Construction and commissioning application after Easement acquisition, concurrent with assessment, Commonwealth environmental approval, Environment effects statement and assessment, Contingent project application and revenue determination	Transmission network service provider	applicant	—	900 estimate	—

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

Machine-flagged questions

These are produced automatically from the dependency graph. They are questions for a practitioner, not findings. Each one needs a person who has run this process to say whether the constraint is real.

Steps that may not need to wait

Project specification consultation report and consultation is a notification queued behind work by a different body. Does it consume that body's output, or is it merely sequenced that way by habit?

Proposed changes

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

Amendments to the Electricity Industry Act 2000 (Vic), 2026, permitting concurrent easement acquisition and environment effects assessment
Environment Effects Act 1978 (Vic)
National Electricity Rules, rule 5.15A

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/vic-transmission-line.toml and open a pull request, or send us the correction.