Think Property Club TV
Think Property Club Β· Approvals and site feasibility Β· 26 September 2026

In Perth, a Panel Decides Some Applications Instead of the Council

Western Australia sends many larger developments to a Development Assessment Panel rather than the local council. Know the thresholds, the election and the excluded classes before you lodge.

Large modern attached grouped-dwelling development of several pale rendered two-storey homes with dark roofs on a suburban Perth street
WHO DECIDES YOUR WA DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION?Check the assessment-panel pathway before planning lodgement.

You have a site in Perth that supports a grouped dwelling project. You assume the local council will assess it, because that is who you lodge with. Then your planner points out that the application may have to be determined by a Development Assessment Panel instead, and that the panel, not the council, will make the decision.

Same application. Different decision-maker. Different preparation, and a different programme.

The deal question: who actually determines your application?

In Western Australia, certain development applications are determined by a Development Assessment Panel rather than the local government. Regulation 8 of the Planning and Development (Development Assessment Panels) Regulations 2011 provides that a DAP application for approval of development within a district for which a DAP is established must be determined by the DAP as if the DAP were the responsible authority under the relevant planning instrument, and cannot be determined by the local government for the district or the Commission. The current panel regulations set out the classes, the election mechanism and the exclusions.

So the question that shapes your approval strategy is not only whether the scheme supports the development. It is who will decide, whether you get a choice, and what that means for your evidence, your timeline and your review pathway. The panels sit under the Planning and Development Act 2005, so the Act and the regulations have to be read together.

The two threshold regulations you need to read together

Regulation 5 prescribes the class that goes to a panel on the basis of estimated cost: in the district of the City of Perth, $20 million or more; outside the district of the City of Perth, $10 million or more.

Regulation 6 prescribes the class where the applicant may elect: development in the district of the City of Perth with an estimated cost of $2 million or more and less than $20 million; development in a district outside the City of Perth with an estimated cost of $2 million or more and less than $10 million; and development of a warehouse in any district with an estimated cost of $2 million or more.

Read them as a pair. The district decides which bracket you are in, and the estimated cost decides whether you are in the mandatory class, the elective class or outside both. For a small-scale developer the elective band is where the real decision sits, and it is the band most students have never read.

The checks a student would run, in order

  1. Confirm a panel is established for the district. The system operates only where a panel exists for that district.
  2. Establish the estimated cost of the development. The thresholds are stated in estimated cost, so substantiate the figure rather than estimating loosely.
  3. Identify the correct bracket. Apply regulation 5 and regulation 6 to your district and your cost.
  4. Check the excluded classes first. A single house, fewer than 10 grouped dwellings and fewer than 10 multiple dwellings are excluded, along with other categories.
  5. Decide whether to elect. If you are in the regulation 6 class, the election is yours to make and it needs to be made properly.
  6. Complete the election the prescribed way. Regulation 7 requires the notice of election in the approved form of Part A of Form 1 in Schedule 3, attached to the development application.
  7. Check for a delegation. A local government can delegate determination of certain $2 million or more applications to a panel by written instrument.
  8. Review comparable panel outcomes. The department publishes DAP agendas and minutes, so you can read how panels in that district have dealt with similar proposals.

Why the decision-maker changes your preparation

A panel decides on the material before it, at a meeting, on a published agenda. The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage states that proposed developments and their outcomes are detailed in DAP agendas, minutes and associated documents, with links to watch meetings live or view recordings, and publishes a page on presenting to a DAP meeting and on lodging a DAP application. The department's Development Assessment Panels section is the current source for how this operates.

Practically, that means your documentation has to answer the questions on the face of the agenda without you in the room. Council officers may have known the site for years; a panel will not. Density, design, traffic, access and amenity all need to be evidenced in the application rather than resolved in a corridor conversation. It also means the programme is anchored to meeting dates rather than to an assessment officer's workload, which can be an advantage or a trap depending on how far away the next meeting is.

The trap: assuming the council decides because you lodge with the council

You lodge with the local government, and the local government is where you have your pre-lodgement meetings. It is natural to assume it decides. Regulation 8 says otherwise for applications in the prescribed classes, and the same provision says the application cannot be determined by the local government or the Commission. If you spend your whole pre-lodgement effort on a council officer's informal view and none on the panel's published tests, you may arrive at the meeting with the wrong case.

The second trap is the cost figure. The thresholds are expressed in estimated cost, not in land value or end value, and the difference between $9 million and $11 million estimated cost moves the application between an elective class and a mandatory class outside the City of Perth. Guessing that figure is guessing which process applies.

The third trap is skipping the exclusions. Many small infill projects never become panel applications at all, because fewer than 10 grouped dwellings and fewer than 10 multiple dwellings are excluded. A student who reads only the dollar thresholds can spend weeks preparing for a panel that has no jurisdiction over the application.

How to brief this properly

You are not expected to classify your own application against the regulations or interpret section 171A of the Planning and Development Act 2005. Your job is to establish early which decision-maker applies, and to brief accordingly. A town planner with experience in that Western Australian district should confirm whether the application is in the prescribed class, the elective class or an excluded class, and whether an election should be made. A quantity surveyor or your project team should substantiate the estimated development cost the threshold depends on. A property lawyer should confirm the determination, the review pathway and any delegation before you lodge. Your finance broker or lender should confirm that the meeting timetable works with your funding. All of them should check the current regulations and the department's own pages, because panel areas and procedures change.

Practical next steps checklist

Key takeaway

In Western Australia the decision-maker is part of the feasibility, not a detail of lodgement. Whether a Development Assessment Panel decides your application depends on the district, the estimated cost of the development, whether an exclusion applies and whether an election is made. Establish that before you prepare the application, and give your planner, cost consultant and lawyer the brief to confirm it against the current regulations.

Reader question: on your last Perth project, did you know before lodgement whether the council or a panel would decide, and did that change what you put in the application?

Sources and boundaries

Sources checked 26 September 2026. Jurisdiction and limits: Western Australia specific information. The thresholds, election mechanism, excluded development classes, delegation provisions and transitional arrangements described are taken from the Planning and Development (Development Assessment Panels) Regulations 2011 as in force from 1 March 2024, made under the Planning and Development Act 2005 (WA), and from the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage Development Assessment Panels pages as retrieved at the checked date. Whether a Development Assessment Panel is established for a particular district, whether a specific application is in a prescribed or elective class, whether it is an excluded development application, and what the estimated cost of the development is are all site and application specific. Panel areas, members and procedures change, and the department's own pages carry their own update dates. Local governments may also have delegated certain determinations to panels by written instrument, which changes the position for particular classes of application in particular districts. Development assessment in other states and territories is governed by different legislation and different thresholds, and nothing here applies to them. This is general information only. Confirm the current position with the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage, the relevant local government and your own planning and legal advisers before you lodge.

  1. Western Australia β€” Planning and Development (Development Assessment Panels) Regulations 2011, in force from 1 March 2024. Used for: regulation 5 providing that a development application is of a class prescribed under section 171A(2)(a) of the Act if it is for approval of development in the district of the City of Perth with an estimated cost of $20 million or more, or development in a district outside the district of the City of Perth with an estimated cost of $10 million or more; regulation 6 providing that a development application is of a class prescribed under section 171A(2)(ba) if it is for development in the district of the City of Perth with an estimated cost of $2 million or more and less than $20 million, development in a district outside the City of Perth with an estimated cost of $2 million or more and less than $10 million, or development of a warehouse in any district with an estimated cost of $2 million or more; regulation 7 allowing an applicant making an application of a class prescribed under regulation 6 to elect to have the application determined by a DAP, by completing the notice of election in the approved form of Part A of Form 1 in Schedule 3 and attaching it to the development application; regulation 8 providing that a DAP application within a district for which a DAP is established must be determined by the DAP as if the DAP were the responsible authority, and cannot be determined by the local government or the Commission; the definition of excluded development application covering construction of a single house with associated carport, patio, outbuilding and incidental development, less than 10 grouped dwellings, less than 10 multiple dwellings, development in an improvement scheme area, development by a local government, and districts where a DAP is not established or has been established for less than 60 days; regulation 19 permitting a local government to delegate determination of certain applications with an estimated cost of $2 million or more to a DAP by written instrument, exerciseable only by an absolute majority decision of the council; the definition of DAP member covering specialist members, local government DAP members and alternate members; regulation 47 dealing with relations with local government and public sector employees; the definition in regulation 57 that the commencement day is 1 March 2024; and the transitional provisions in Division 2 of Part 7 inserted by the 2024 amendment regulations (Checked 26 September 2026)
  2. Western Australia β€” Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage, Development Assessment Panels. Used for: the department's current statement of how Development Assessment Panels operate, including that there are three Development Assessment Panels, that there are pages for how DAPs work, the DAP areas and members, current DAP applications and information, presenting to a DAP meeting, lodging a DAP application, and changes to the Development Assessment Panels from 1 March 2024; and that DAP agendas, minutes and associated documents record proposed developments and their outcomes, with links to watch meetings live or view recordings (page last updated 24 September 2026) (Checked 26 September 2026)
  3. Western Australia β€” Planning and Development Act 2005, legislation.wa.gov.au. Used for: the current in-force status and publication details of the Planning and Development Act 2005 (WA), the Act under which Development Assessment Panels are established and under which the panel regulations are made (Checked 26 September 2026)

This article is general education, not personalised planning, legal, financial, tax, privacy, safety or building advice. Requirements and outcomes vary by jurisdiction, site, contract, structure and circumstances. Check current information with the relevant authority and appropriately qualified advisers.

Jason from Think Property ClubLearn with Jason & AmyBuild practical small-scale property development skills with experienced mentors.Enquire now
#Planningandapprovals #Sellingandholding #Propertyeducation

More property guides

Frequently asked questions

What is a Development Assessment Panel and why does it matter?

It is the decision-maker for certain development applications instead of the local council. Regulation 8 of the Development Assessment Panels Regulations 2011 provides that a DAP application for approval of development within a district for which a DAP is established must be determined by the DAP as if the DAP were the responsible authority under the relevant planning instrument, and cannot be determined by the local government for the district or the Commission. For an applicant that changes who you are briefing, what they will want to see, and what the determination and review pathway looks like. It is not simply a different room with the same process inside it.

At what cost does my project become a DAP application?

It depends on the district and on the estimated cost of the development. Regulation 5 prescribes the mandatory class: in the district of the City of Perth an estimated cost of $20 million or more, and outside the City of Perth an estimated cost of $10 million or more. Regulation 6 prescribes the class where the applicant may elect: $2 million or more and less than $20 million in the City of Perth; $2 million or more and less than $10 million outside the City of Perth; and a warehouse in any district with an estimated cost of $2 million or more. Read both regulations together, because the district and the cost together decide the outcome.

Do I have to use the panel, or can I choose?

Both regimes exist, which is why the wording matters. An application in the regulation 5 class is prescribed and goes to the panel. Regulation 7 deals with the regulation 6 class, and provides that an applicant making an application of that class may elect to have the application determined by a DAP, by completing the notice of election in the approved form and attaching it to the development application. Regulation 7 describes it as an election in respect of a regulation 6 application, so the choice belongs to the applicant for that class. Whether an election suits your project is a strategic decision, not a default.

Are any developments excluded from the panel system?

Yes, and small infill projects are the obvious ones. The regulations define an excluded development application to include construction of a single house with any associated carport, patio, outbuilding and incidental development, less than 10 grouped dwellings, and less than 10 multiple dwellings. Development in an improvement scheme area, development by a local government, and development in a district where a DAP is not established or has been established for less than 60 days are also excluded. So a duplex or a small grouped dwelling project may not be a panel application at all, even where the dollar value looks significant.

What changed for panels on 1 March 2024?

The panel structure changed, and the regulations carry transitional provisions for it. Regulation 57 defines the commencement day as 1 March 2024, and the transitional Division in Part 7 deals with the transition from the earlier joint and local development assessment panel arrangements, including continuation of the local government register under old regulation 26 and provisions for local government DAP members. The department also publishes a page on changes to the Development Assessment Panels from 1 March 2024. If your project spans that date or your planner's advice predates it, ask which version of the framework they are applying.