State Planning Policies

The State Planning Commission prepares and maintains the State planning policies (SPPs) for South Australia. The SPPs collectively set out South Australia's overarching goals or requirements for the planning system [Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA) s 58].

The SPPs are a state-wide framework for land use planning in South Australia that aims to address economic, environmental and social planning priorities, including design quality [SPP 2 and s 59], housing supply and diversity [SPP 6], biodiversity [SPP 4 and s 62A], climate change [SPP 5 and s 62] and strategic transport infrastructure [SPP 11].

The Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA) expressly provides that a SPP is not to be taken into account for the purposes of any assessment or decision in relation to a development application [s 58(4)].

The SPPs can be viewed at the PlanSA webpage.

Planning Regions

South Australia has been divided into specific planning regions under the [Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA) s 5(1)]. The planning regions can change from time to time, and must be proclaimed in the Government Gazette. The current planning regions are:

[South Australian Government Gazette, 19 March 2020, p 548 (PDF download, 1,097 KB]

Each planning region can also be comprised of sub-regions when appropriate [Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA) s 6].

Each planning region has its own regional plan to guide development within its designated region, which must include certain information and be consistent with the SPPs [s 64].

Regional plans for each region are available on the PlanSA - Regional Plans webpage.

Planning and Design Code

The most important document in the day-to-day assessment of development applications is now the Planning and Design Code (the Code). The Code is a statewide set of policies, rules and classifications and all applications in South Australia are assessed against the Code. The Code replaced all previous 72 individual Development Plans. The State Planning Commission prepares and maintains the Code, which is a statutory instrument under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA) [s 65].

Under section 66 of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA), the Code will, among other things:

To determine what planning policies and rules apply to a particular property, or to browse the Code, visit the Plan SA webpage.

The Code is one part of the overall ePlanning system, which includes the SA Planning Portal, the online Planning and Design Code, the South Australian Property and Planning Atlas (SAPPA), the Development Application Processing system, the Code Amendment Register and Code Amendment Tracking System (CATS). For access to the ePlanning platform, visit the PlanSA webpage.

Practice Directions and Practice Guidelines

The State Planning Commission (SPC) may issue Practice Directions. The purpose of a Practice Direction is to provide direction about specific procedural requirements or procedures in relation to any matter which may arise under the Act [s 42]. The SPC may also make practice guidelines in relation to the interpretation, use or application of the Planning Rules (including the Code) or the Building Rules [s 43].

Practice Directions and Practice Guidelines issued by the SPC must be:

[Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA) s 42(4) and s 43(4)]

The current practice directions and guidelines are available on the PlanSA webpage.