Committee Details

About the Bill 

On 1 May 2025, the Hon Jarrod Bleijie MP, Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations introduced the Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 into the Queensland Parliament. The Bill was referred to the State Development, Infrastructure and Works Committee for detailed consideration.   

View: Explanatory speech 
View: Bill 
View: Explanatory Notes 
View: Statement of compatibility 

Social impact and community benefit amendments

The Bill proposes ‘to introduce a community benefit system into the Queensland planning framework’ by:

• requiring a proponent to conduct a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and enter into a Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) with the local government before lodging a development application, with both documents submitted to the assessment manager as part of a properly made application
• providing for the Planning Regulation 2017 to prescribe the uses which require a SIA and CBA prior to lodging a development application
• providing a reserve power for the chief executive of the department administering the Planning Act 2016 to allow a development application to be lodged with an assessment manager without a SIA and/or CBA, as well as the authority to impose conditions for social impacts
• providing transitional provisions to clarify how the Planning Act and subsequent Planning Regulation amendments apply to a development application that has been made, or lodged, but not decided.

The Bill amends the Planning Act 2016, City of Brisbane Act 2010, Local Government Act 2009, Planning and Environment Court Act 2016, and the Building Act 1975 to give effect to these changes. 

A consultation version of the draft Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025 was tabled during the explanatory speech. The draft regulation indicates that  proponents seeking to develop wind farms and large-scale solar farms will be required to undertake SIA and enter into a CBA with the local government before lodging a development application.

View: Consultation version, May 2025 – Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025

Economic development amendments

The Bill amends the Economic Development Act 2012. The stated objective of these amendments is ‘to enhance administrative efficiency and flexibility, enabling Economic Development Queensland to effectively advance government objectives and drive meaningful progress’. The amendments include:

• providing that the Governor in Council can remove the chief executive officer and acting chief executive officer of Minister for Economic Development Queensland (a corporation sole constituted by the Minister) at any time
• providing that the Governor in Council can remove an appointed board member of the Economic Development Board at any time
• providing that particular members of the Economic Development Board can attend a meeting of the Board by proxy.

According to the explanatory notes, these changes ‘support the Queensland Government’s commitment to refocus Economic Development Queensland on delivering homes in Priority Development Areas, to increase housing supply’. 

Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games amendments

The Bill amends the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games Arrangements Act 2021 with the objective of ensuring that the State 'complies with its obligations under relevant games agreements by ensuring that the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the Games) venues and villages are delivered in a timely manner and in a way that maximises the legacy benefits of the Games’. The amendments include:

• identifying Games venues and villages and their Games-related and legacy use in the Act
• making changes to the functions and powers of the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority (GIICA) to align with its role to deliver, or monitor the delivery of, Games venues and the introduction of requirements for the GIICA to share information with the chief executive of the department
• identifying Games-related transport infrastructure
• providing an expedited pathway for the delivery of Games venues and villages and the construction of Games-related transport infrastructure identified in the Act by removing the requirements for compliance with relevant Acts relating to development and use (other than building work and cultural heritage) and limiting review rights
• providing for a streamlined 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Corporation) Board to ensure efficient and effective decision making capability
• enabling the Queensland Government to have oversight of the Corporation and GIICA by providing for an observer at Corporation Board and Corporation Board committee meetings
• acknowledging the Games Leadership Group (membership of the group is to be decided by the Minister) and that both the Corporation and GIICA must have regard to its advice in carrying out their respective functions, as part of broader whole-of-Games governance arrangements
• removing references to the 100 Day Review as this has been completed
• removing the requirements to prepare a Transport and Mobility Strategy and Games Coordination Plan – these functions will be reallocated to government departments (Department of Transport and Main Roads and Department of Sport, Racing and Olympics and Paralympic Games respectively).

Further information

When available, further information including written briefings, correspondence, and transcripts will be published under the Related Publications tab.

submissions CLOSED

The committee invited submissions on the Bill from all interested parties. 

The closing date for written submissions was Tuesday, 20 May 2025 at 12:00pm (midday). 

Submissions received are currently being processed and those accepted will be published in due course.

Please note: Your name and submission may be published on the committee’s inquiry webpage, which will mean it can be viewed on the internet. You can request for your name to be withheld from your published submission, or for both your name and your submission to be kept confidential (i.e. not published). Decisions about whether and how submissions are published are at the discretion of the committee.

PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS

Public hearings are scheduled for Monday, 2 June and/or Tuesday 3 June 2025. Further information will be provided here shortly.

Committee’s report

The committee is due to table its report on Friday, 20 June 2025. The report will be published here.

Once the committee’s report has been tabled, the government has three months to respond to the report’s recommendations (if any). At that time, the government response will be published here.

Timeline