The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 requires the public disclosure of donations or gifts when lodging or commenting on development proposals. This law is designed to improve the transparency of the planning system.
The laws set out disclosure requirements for individuals or entities with a relevant financial interest as part of the lodgement of:
- various types of development proposals
- requests to initiate environmental planning instruments or development control plans.
These disclosure requirements apply at the time of lodgement to councils or the NSW Government. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure they have met the requirements specified under the Act. Disclosure requirements also apply to individuals or entities lodging submissions in objection or support to these types of proposals.
Resources
Publications
- Disclosure of political donations and gifts: guideline – revised October 2008 (PDF, 133 KB)
- Development proposals and donations or gifts: know the rules community brochure – September 2008 (PDF, 801 KB)
Disclosure statement forms
- Political donations disclosure statement – for applications or public submissions to the Minister or Director-General (PDF, 43 KB)
- Template – which local councils can adapt and use for political donations and gifts disclosure statements relating to applications or public submissions to the council (RTF/ZIP, 21 KB)
Public access to disclosures
Disclosures associated with State significant applications are available with the relevant project page on the major project register.
Other development assessment systems include: