INSIGHT · PLANNING & APPROVALS
How long planning consent takes in SA
depends on which clock you read.
The South Australian Government's most recent figures say planning authorities took an average of 18 days from lodgement to decision for planning consent in the 2025-26 financial year to date, with a median of 12 days (Department for Housing and Urban Development release, 3 June 2026). The release does not say whether those are business or calendar days, or where the period ends. The statutory annual report gives on-time rates rather than days: 90% of planning consent decisions met the statutory timeframe in 2024-25.
Analysed 6 October 2026 · Performance Indicators Scheme Annual Reports 2024-25 (released 21 November 2025) and 2023-24 · PlanSA Stages and timeframes page · DHUD release of 3 June 2026 · all pages read 6 October 2026, the PlanSA, DIT and DHUD pages through a rendering proxy because the sites block automated access.
Key takeaways
- The day figures come from a media release, not the statutory report: The 18-day average and 12-day median are stated in a state government release dated 3 June 2026. The Performance Indicators Scheme Annual Reports we read for 2023-24 and 2024-25 publish counts and on-time percentages, not average or median days.
- The statutory clock is counted in business days and can stop: PlanSA lists planning consent timeframes from 5 business days (Deemed to Satisfy) to 95 business days (Restricted), after a five business day verification period. For Performance Assessed applications the clock can be suspended while further information is requested.
- On-time rates have held between 89% and 92%: Planning consent decisions made within the statutory timeframe were 89% in 2021-22, 90% in 2022-23, 92% in 2023-24 and 90% in 2024-25, as the two most recent annual reports state.
- The interstate comparison has no stated source: The release compares SA's 12-day median with 119 days in Victoria, and SA's 90% on-time rate with 64% in Victoria and 71% in New South Wales. The release attributes only its dwelling approvals figure to the ABS. We did not locate the source of the interstate figures.
- We would store the clock, not just the number: A system-design recommendation: store the pathway, the date the clock starts, the published figure with its definition and period, and the edition it came from, so a programme assumption can be re-checked later.
01
The figures South Australia publishes,
and what each one measures.
Four official statements answer "how long" in different ways. Three come from one government release and one from the statutory annual report; they do not share a period or a stated unit, so they cannot be read as one series.
The release does not say whether its day counts are business or calendar days, whether time suspended for information requests is excluded, or which pathways the 18-day average and 12-day median include.
| Figure | What it measures | Period | Where it is published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average 18 days | "from lodgement to decision for planning consent" | 2025-26 financial year to date (end date not stated) | DHUD release, 3 June 2026 |
| Median 12 days | "Median assessment times" (clock and unit not stated) | Not stated; the sentence follows the 2025-26 year-to-date figure | DHUD release, 3 June 2026 |
| Average 15 days | "average turnaround" for new housing applications in the Performance Assessed pathway, which the release says carries 70% of them | Not stated | DHUD release, 3 June 2026 |
| 90% on time | Planning consent decisions (granted or refused) made within the statutory assessment timeframe | 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 | Performance Indicators Scheme Annual Report 2024-25, indicator 3.1 |
02
The statutory clock:
business days, by pathway.
PlanSA's Stages and timeframes page sets out the timeframes for planning consent. It states that all types of assessment have a five business day verification period at the start and two business days at the end for the decision to be issued.
| Planning consent assessment type | Business days (PlanSA) |
|---|---|
| Deemed to Satisfy | 5 |
| Performance Assessed, no public notification, no referral | 20 |
| Performance Assessed, no public notification, referral required | 50 |
| Performance Assessed, public notification required (15 business days for notification, 15 for applicant response) | 70 |
| Restricted, public notification required (20 business days for notification, 15 for applicant response) | 95 |
- The clock can stop: For performance assessed developments, PlanSA states that time limits can be suspended if the assessment authority or referral agency asks the applicant for additional information, and that the clock restarts when the information is received.
- Information requests are common and the response window is long: The 2024-25 annual report counts 16,948 requests for additional information across all pathways, 15,371 of them on Performance Assessed applications, and notes that the relevant authority must give a minimum of 60 business days to respond.
03
"Lodged" is not the day
you press submit.
The annual reports define their start point precisely. In the 2024-25 report's scope: "An application is lodged when appropriate fees have been paid, and the first consent has been verified." Applications that are submitted but not lodged are not included.
- Verification sits before lodgement: The 2023-24 report states that the verification timeframe is 5 business days and that the measure counts only from the point all mandatory information under Schedule 8 of the Regulations has been provided. The 2024-25 report lists what verification includes: reviewing documents, requesting required documentation, determining the assessment pathway and invoicing lodgement fees.
- Verification on time has been flat: In 2024-25, 85% of all consents and 86% of planning consents were verified within the statutory timeframe. The report describes on-time verification as "remaining static or marginally decreasing".
- So the elapsed time from submission is a different number: A figure measured from lodgement does not include the time an application spends being submitted, completed and verified. The release's 18-day average is stated "from lodgement to decision"; it does not say whether lodgement carries the annual report's meaning.
04
Four years of on-time rates,
and counts that moved between editions.
The reports describe the state's ePlanning system as fully operational since March 2021. The two most recent annual reports give the following for planning consent decisions.
On-time rates for 2021-22 to 2023-24 are from the 2023-24 report's commentary on indicator 3.1; 2024-25 is from the 2024-25 report. Decision counts are from indicator 3.2 of each edition.
| Financial year | Within statutory timeframe | Planning consent decisions (2024-25 edition) | Same count (2023-24 edition) | Deemed consents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 89% | 30,655 | 31,417 | 24 |
| 2022-23 | 90% | 29,696 | 29,924 | 14 |
| 2023-24 | 92% | 27,546 | 27,777 | 2 |
| 2024-25 | 90% | 31,461 | Not yet published | 4 |
- By pathway, 2024-25: Deemed to Satisfy 92%, Performance Assessed 90%, Restricted 86% within the statutory timeframe. The 2023-24 report gave 94%, 92% and 84%.
- A deemed consent is the backstop, and it is rare: The report describes a deemed consent notice as one an applicant may serve when a relevant authority fails to decide within the prescribed time. There were 4 in 2024-25 against 31,461 planning consent decisions.
- The same year, two counts: The 2024-25 edition reports fewer planning consent decisions for 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 than the 2023-24 edition did for the same years. Neither report, as read, explains the difference. A figure stored without its edition cannot be reconciled later.
05
The interstate comparison,
as the release states it.
The 3 June 2026 release states: "Median assessment times are even quicker, at 12 days in South Australia compared with 119 days in Victoria." It adds that "90% of planning consent decisions in South Australia are made within the statutory timeframes, compared with just 64% in Victoria and only 71% in New South Wales."
- Where "ABS data" actually applies: The release attributes one figure to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): dwelling approvals for the year ending April 2026, up 5.6 per cent to 14,914. The interstate timing sentences carry no source in the release. We did not locate a primary source for the Victorian or New South Wales figures.
- Three systems, three names: South Australia grants planning consent, Victoria grants a planning permit, and New South Wales determines a development application (DA). The release does not state the timeframes, periods or counting rules behind the Victorian and NSW figures.
- The release does not say what its ratios compare: The release says SA processes planning approvals for new homes more than seven times faster than Victoria and more than three times faster than NSW. It does not say which figures those ratios compare. It gives no NSW day figure, so the NSW ratio cannot be checked; 119 divided by 12 is about 9.9 (our calculation).
06
What a median does not show:
the slow tail.
A median says when half of decisions were made. It says nothing about how long the slowest applications took, and those are the ones a programme has to absorb. Chapter 2 of the Australia Housing Market White Paper (2026), published by RESI, the Australian Residential Construction Institute and analysing data to 2025, studied what predicts a longer consent timeline in South Australian subdivision applications.
White paper findings are quoted as directional findings only. Read the white paper through RESI at resi.org.au; it analyses data to 2025.
- What predicts a longer timeline: Assessment pathway, verification time, referrals and public notification remained significant predictors once tested together.
- What fades: Zone and location effects weakened once those workflow triggers were controlled for, part of the dwelling-form difference was explained by pathway and notification, and tree removal showed no clear standalone effect.
- The practical line: The white paper's guidance for financial modelling is to price the downside, not the median. The detail is in our earlier piece on why predictability beats speed in planning approvals.
What we would put in a system
A planning consent duration in a programme is only as good as the record behind it. For each live application, we would test for five fields.
Where agents help is narrow. A document intelligence agent can read a PlanSA decision notice or information request, extract the pathway and the dates, and draft the record; a person confirms it. No agent determines an application's pathway, whether a timeframe has been met, or whether a deemed consent is available. Those are for the relevant authority and your advisers.
| Field | Why it is load-bearing |
|---|---|
| Assessment pathway | Statutory timeframes run from 5 to 95 business days depending on pathway, notification and referral. The pathway is determined at verification. |
| Submitted, verified and lodged dates | The Scheme's start point is lodgement after verification. Elapsed time from submission is a different and longer interval. |
| The published figure and its definition | Average or median, business or calendar days, which clock, which pathways. An 18-day average and a 12-day median are not the same claim. |
| Period and source edition, with read date | Counts for the same financial year changed between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 reports. A figure without its edition cannot be re-checked. |
| Clock suspensions | Dates each information request was issued and answered, since the Performance Assessed clock stops while information is outstanding. |
- Compliance & Approvals: Where the pathway, the dates and the clock suspensions for each application are recorded.
- Predictability beats speed: Which workflow triggers predict a longer consent timeline, from the white paper's Chapter 2.
- Housing market white paper: The white paper in detail on this site, with its method and published limitations.
- Planning and approval consultants: How the same records support a consultancy running many applications at once.
Questions people ask
about SA planning consent times
How long does planning consent take in South Australia?
The state government's release of 3 June 2026 states an average of 18 days from lodgement to decision for planning consent in the 2025-26 financial year to date, and a median of 12 days. It does not state whether these are business or calendar days or where the period ends.
What are the statutory timeframes for planning consent in SA?
PlanSA lists 5 business days for Deemed to Satisfy, 20 for Performance Assessed with no notification or referral, 50 with a referral, 70 with public notification, and 95 for Restricted, after a five business day verification period.
What share of SA planning consents are decided on time?
The Performance Indicators Scheme Annual Report 2024-25 states that 90% of planning consent decisions (granted or refused) were made within the statutory assessment timeframe in 2024-25, down from 92% in 2023-24.
Is SA planning approval faster than Victoria and NSW?
The release states a 12-day median in SA against 119 days in Victoria, and 90% on time against 64% in Victoria and 71% in NSW. It does not give the source or definitions of the interstate figures, and we did not locate them.
For a developer: when does the planning consent clock start?
In the Scheme's reporting, an application is lodged once fees are paid and the first consent is verified. Time spent before that, completing and verifying the application, sits outside a lodgement-to-decision figure.
What this analysis
does and does not show.
Evidence note
- What it shows
- The day figures for SA planning consent (an 18-day average from lodgement to decision and a 12-day median, 2025-26 financial year to date) appear in a state government release, while the statutory annual reports publish on-time rates and counts. The statutory timeframes are in business days, start after verification and can be suspended.
- Key facts quoted
- 18-day average and 12-day median (DHUD, 3 June 2026); 15-day average for Performance Assessed new housing; 90% of planning consent decisions on time in 2024-25 and 92% in 2023-24; 89% and 90% in 2021-22 and 2022-23; statutory timeframes of 5 to 95 business days; 4 deemed consents in 2024-25; 16,948 information requests in 2024-25.
- Derived
- One calculation: 119 divided by 12 is about 9.9. The edition-to-edition differences in decision counts are read from the two reports, not computed.
- PlanSA, DIT and DHUD pages were read through a rendering proxy on 6 October 2026 because the sites block automated access. The 2022-23 annual report could not be retrieved; its year is covered by the later editions' comparisons.
- The premier.sa.gov.au copy of the release returned page not found on 6 October 2026; the text was read on the DHUD copy.
- We did not locate a primary source for the Victorian and NSW figures in the release, and report them only as the release states them.
- We did not read the Regulations. The statutory timeframes are as PlanSA's guidance page states them.
- This covers South Australia only and does not predict the timeline of any application.
- Nothing here is planning, legal or financial advice, and it does not determine how any authority will assess an application.
What to watch next
The 2024-25 annual report names three pieces of work for the 2025-26 financial year. They are the Department's stated intentions, not outcomes.
- A review of the Performance Indicators Scheme: The Department proposes to review the Scheme in 2025-26, including the suitability of existing indicators and new ones. Any new timing indicator would change what can be stored from the statutory report.
- A review of Schedule 8 information requirements: Scheduled for the 2025-26 financial year, with the stated intention that relevant authorities have sufficient information to verify an application.
- A verification practice direction: Described as in its early stages, setting out the responsibilities of an applicant and a relevant authority so applications can be verified promptly.
Bring us one application
and the date your programme assumed.
Tell us the pathway, the date it was submitted, the date it was verified and the consent duration your programme carries. We will show you which published figure that assumption matches, and what it leaves out.
General information about published South Australian planning statistics and guidance. It is not planning, legal or financial advice and does not determine how any authority will assess an application. Figures are as read on 6 October 2026 from the sources listed.
Sources
Suggested citation: Performance Indicators Scheme Annual Reports 2023-24 and 2024-25, PlanSA Stages and timeframes, and DHUD release of 3 June 2026, as read 6 October 2026. One figure is derived: 119 divided by 12, about 9.9, our calculation.
- State Planning Commission / DHUD - Performance Indicators Scheme Annual Report 2024-25: Released 21 November 2025 (PlanSA page) · read 6 October 2026 through a rendering proxy · statutory annual report
- State Planning Commission - Performance Indicators Scheme Annual Report 2023-24: Published 2024 · read 6 October 2026 through a rendering proxy · statutory annual report
- PlanSA - Stages and timeframes: No last-updated date shown · read 6 October 2026 through a rendering proxy · planning portal guidance
- PlanSA - Performance indicators: No last-updated date shown · read 6 October 2026 through a rendering proxy · scheme page and report list
- Department for Housing and Urban Development - State housing and planning approvals surge: Dated 3 June 2026 · read 6 October 2026 through a rendering proxy · government media release
- RESI - Australia Housing Market White Paper (2026): Chapter 2, directional findings only · data to 2025 · published by RESI