The Charter sets out consultation requirements for proposed amendments to designated instruments.
It provides greater opportunities for South Australians to influence how we live, work and move in our urban and rural areas.
About this instrument
Before the Community Engagement Charter was introduced, many people’s first interaction with the planning system was when a new house or other form of development was built near them, without understanding the planning policy that enabled this to occur.
The Community Engagement Charter helps build understanding of the planning system by inviting community input on planning policies that shape the places they value.
The Community Engagement Charter must be used when initiating an amendment to an operational statutory instrument.
The Commission will review the performance of the Charter and Guide as it tests it in the delivery of the new planning system for South Australia. The Commission can amend the Charter at any time and must review it every five years.
A major inclusion in the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016, is the Community Engagement Charter. The Act places the emphasis on engaging communities early, when the rules, such as the Planning and Design Code and other regulatory instruments are being developed rather than at the later stages of the planning process when it may be too late to influence outcomes.
This ensures that people and communities have a greater opportunity to “have a say” in developing planning policy for our state.
Public focus groups and ongoing consultation shaped the Charter’s five engagement principles.
Those participating told us that they wanted engagement that is:
- genuine
- inclusive and respectful
- fit for purpose
- informed and transparent
- reviewed and improved.
Councils and state government must design engagement strategies that meet these principles and tailor engagement to the needs of the community and the characteristics of the project. The Charter makes sure that planners and developers gather input early and more widely from other stakeholders and our communities.
Traditional engagement tools used alongside new technologies will be encouraged.
Measuring, reporting and reviewing the performance of public engagement is also a key requirement of the Charter.
The State Planning Commission is responsible for reviewing and maintaining the Charter and has the authority to determine whether compliance with the Charter principles have been met prior to decisions being made.
State Planning Policies
Provide direction for Regional Plans, Planning & Design Code and EISs.
Regional Plans
Set the long-term vision for an area of the State, and must align with any relevant State Planning Policies.
The Planning and Design Code
Will replace current development plans.
Design Standards
Ensure a consistent approach to the design of local infrastructure (eg stormwater, local road construction and lighting).
Infrastructure Schemes
Set the rules and process for assessing development applications.
Assessment processes in the new planning system must provide certainty, consistency, timeliness and minimal risk of appeal, particularly where development outcomes meet the rules established through early engagement.
The Charter does not have a statutory role in assessment of development applications, and procedures to be followed for public notification and the invitation of feedback on development proposals outlined in the Act are to be determined by regulation. These vary across the different assessment pathways within the new planning system.
The planning process and visioning for areas will influence planning rules and how they may apply at the local level. Linking the planning rules to the vision requires genuine engagement. The community would therefore be informed about the planning rules applying to them and their surroundings and an understanding about what form future developments may take.
The new assessment pathways provide engagement scaled to the possible impacts of development as shown below.
The principles of good community engagement as set out in the Charter will be considered when the regulations for development assessment are determined
Development | Engagement required |
|---|---|
Exempt | None |
Accepted | None |
Code assessed – Deemed-to-satisfy | None |
Code assessed – Performance assessed | Notification of adjoining land owners and notice on land unless exempt by Code |
Impact Assessed – Restricted | Notification of adjoining land owners, others affected, public notice, notice on land (unless Commission dispenses) |
Impact Assessed - Impact assessed | Public notice, written submissions, and additional consultation as required by the Minister |
The State Planning Commission has developed the Charter by listening to a range of community, industry, councils and state bodies about its important features.
Download the Commission's Engagement Report (PDF, 1102 KB).
There has been three phases of engagement for the Community Engagement Charter with members of the public being a part of the development of the Charter from the very beginning:
Stage 1 - Pre-Engagement
Planning Together Panel, stakeholder Groups and the practitioner panel worked to inform the preparation of the Discussion Draft of the Community Engagement Charter.
Stage 2 - Discussion Draft
The Commission released the Discussion Draft for comment from the Community and Stakeholder Groups including Councils from 28 August 2017 to 6 October 2017. The Consultation Phase 1 Report was then released and made available on the SA Planning Portal.
Stage 3 - Consultation Draft
The Commission released the Draft Community Engagement Charter and the Guide for a formal 6 weeks consultation from 30 October 2017 to 8 December 2017.
The Commission finalised its inaugural five-yearly review of the Charter in accordance with Section 45 of the Act. The Review Report (PDF, 899 KB) was provided to the Minister on 14 December 2023 and tabled in Parliament on 20 February 2024 in accordance with section 45(8) of the Act.
The Commission made a total of 13 recommendations for amendments to the Charter and/or its supporting documentation. Importantly, the review finds the Charter is fit for purpose and does not require any significant amendment in the short term.
However, noting the impending implementation of Regional Plans, it does recommend additional engagement requirements are included in the Charter for the purposes of facilitating a ‘Complying Change’ to the Planning and Design Code and includes draft requirements to be included in the Charter for this purpose.
The Act did not require public consultation to occur for the Commission to complete the statutory review. As such, the review did not include a consultation program.
However, the actual amendment of the Charter (to implement the review recommendations) will be subject to a substantial public consultation program that considers the views of the broader community.
The Commission proposed to amend the Charter in early 2024 and to undertake public consultation alongside the Kangaroo Island Regional Plan (KIRP) engagement program.
The Commission proposes to undertake a further review of the Charter following the conclusion of the Regional Planning Program. This will ensure learnings from all Regional Planning engagement programs are considered in the context of the Charter and how it may be further improved.
Documents
If you can't find a document, try searching PlanSA's resources library.
