We commissioned Lisa Corbyn – former head of the NSW Environment Protection Authority and the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water – to independently review our assessment reports for state significant projects (PDF, 1 MB).
Ms Corbyn consulted with community groups, industry groups, professional associations, the former Planning Assessment Commission, the NSW Land & Environment Court, the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and several NSW government agencies and local councils.
Stakeholders were asked to provide feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the department’s assessment reports and offer suggestions for improvement.
Ms Corbyn made15 recommendations in the independent review (PDF, 604 KB) to strengthen and improve our assessment reports. We accepted all the review’s 15 recommendations and implemented reforms and actions to address them. We continue to monitor and periodically review the process of drafting an assessment report to ensure the objectives of the report are met.