DAC meetings

Regular meetings of the Commission will be held on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Alterations to the scheduled meeting arrangements may occur from time to time according to work load. A schedule of meetings for the rest of 2016 is available on the home page.

Meetings will generally be held in the morning. Attendees will be notified of the exact time of meetings in advance.

Meetings will ordinarily be held at 28 Leigh Street, Adelaide, unless otherwise notified by the DAC Secretariat. Meetings at other locations, including regional centres, may be convened from time to time to meet specific statutory or operational needs. Meetings are held in private.

Agendas and Minutes

Agenda items (excluding legal opinion and commercially confidential information, and papers relating to Crown Development or mining proposals) are made available to the public, including applicants and representors, from the Monday preceding the scheduled meeting at the Agendas & Minutes section of this website and at the Assessment Branch counter, Level 2, 211 Victoria Square, Adelaide (GHD Building).

Minutes of the Commission's meetings are published on this website and are available from the Assessment Branch counter within one business day of the meeting.

Timeframes – Setting of DAC Agenda

The DAC Agenda and meeting papers are coordinated by the DAC Secretariat and DIT Planning Staff. All final plans, supporting documentation and final comments from referral agencies (if required) must be with the relevant DIT planning officer on the Thursday, 2 weeks prior to the DAC meeting date to enable staff adequate time to prepare the agenda item, attachments and meeting invites.  This also allows sufficient time for the agenda to be distributed to Commission members for their review prior to the meeting. DIT Planning Staff will advise all relevant parties of the date of the meeting and the time an item will be considered, approximately 9 days prior to the meeting date.

The agenda is published on the website, on the Monday prior to the meeting, or on the Friday if the Monday is a public holiday.

Minutes are usually uploaded to the website on the Friday following the meeting by midday.

Hearings and representations

Applicants

For applications to be determined by the Commission, applicants are provided the opportunity to attend the meeting, even when there are no representors to be heard.

Representors

Category 3 representors and applicants are heard by the Commission, as required by the Act.

The Commission will exercise its discretion whether to hear Category 2 representors, in accordance with the Act.

For an explanation of notification categories see here.

Concurrence items

For requests by Councils for concurrence, the Commission only considers the written advice and documentation provided by the Council. As the Council has made its decision, neither the applicant nor representors (who may already have exercised their right to attend a Development Assessment Panel meeting) are invited to ensure procedural fairness in the Commission's deliberations.

General

The Presiding Member will allow any member of the Commission to ask relevant questions of any person appearing before it, and may refuse to allow any questions, comment or debate that is in his/her opinion not relevant to the subject matter.

The Commission can provide a telephone link for representors and applicants in regional areas.

The Commission discusses and determines applications in private after representors, Council and the applicant have left the meeting.

Meeting Protocols

• Meetings will ordinarily be held in camera, unless otherwise determined by the Presiding Member.
• Members, staff and visitors will not use mobile phones during the meeting.
• No electronic recording or photography will be permitted in meetings other than with the express and prior permission of the Presiding Member.
• The Presiding Member may ask any person attending a meeting of the Commission who is behaving in a disorderly manner or otherwise causing disruption to leave the meeting.

Code of Conduct

Members of the Commission are bound by the Minister's Code of Conduct as set out in section 21A of the Act.

Commission staff

While independent of the Government, the Commission is supported in its role by the Strategic Assessment & Investment Branch, Development Division of the Department of Infrastructure and Transport. Staff of the Branch provide professional research and advice to the Commission regarding applications and other matters. The Commission is also able to delegate extensive administrative and decision making responsibility to the Principal Planner and officers of the Strategic Assessment & Investment Branch.

Section 17 of the Development Act 1993 specifies the Commission must have a Secretary and such other staff as deemed necessary to assist in its operation, and may make use of the services of the relevant department. The Commission has a dedicated Secretariat and Principal Planner.