17 Sep 2025
GBCA welcomes NSW’s planning overhaul but says faster approvals must also lock in housing that is sustainable, resilient and affordable to live in.
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has welcomed the NSW Government’s Planning System Reforms Bill 2025 as a long-overdue step to accelerate housing supply and modernise the planning framework.
The Bill represents the most significant overhaul of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act in almost 50 years.
It introduces a new Development Coordination Authority to provide a single front door for approvals, expands complying development, and creates a new targeted assessment pathway to fast-track projects where community consultation has already taken place.
Housing delivery will for the first time become a central object of the Act, alongside climate resilience and proportionality in planning decisions.
GBCA Chief Executive Davina Rooney said the reforms are a chance to speed up the delivery of new homes while also embedding sustainability.
“We need a planning system that delivers homes quickly and cost-effectively, but also locks in good design, resilience and positive environmental outcomes from the start,” Ms Rooney said.
“Every new community should be liveable, low-carbon and climate-ready. These reforms can provide the foundation, but it’s essential that sustainability sits at the core of faster approvals.”
“We cannot solve today’s housing challenge by creating tomorrow’s climate problem.”
“Every new home must be designed to withstand the climate impacts of today, tomorrow and the next 50 years,” Ms Rooney said.
GBCA research has shown that a typical new home will lock in more than 1,000 tonnes of carbon emissions across its lifetime – a reminder that the choices made in planning today will shape emissions profiles for decades to come.
The Bill proposes making climate resilience a legislated object of NSW’s planning system for the first time. An important milestone, especially in the same week as the release of the National Climate Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Plan.
Ms Rooney said the reforms are significant not only because they modernise an outdated planning system, but also because they show that productivity and sustainability can co-exist.
“Earlier this week we saw national commitments on climate and housing, but legislation is where ambition becomes real. This Bill shows NSW is serious about aligning housing delivery with sustainability and resilience outcomes,” Ms Rooney said.
GBCA noted strong industry backing for the reforms, with support from the Property Council, Urban Taskforce and UDIA NSW, all calling them common-sense changes that will help unlock housing supply.
The Bill will be debated in Parliament in coming weeks.