Customer focus
The Department of Planning is transforming the way citizens, property developers, local councils and professional bodies apply for and interact with the state planning system. Previously a cumbersome paper-based service often requiring inconvenient face-to-face interactions, the service has been streamlined and moved online. Now customers can access planning services and information from anywhere at any time, increasing connectivity and accessibility while reducing confusion and duplication; simplifying the customer journey for its 2.3 million registered users.
Transformation by design
Bringing 15 existing systems together into one central platform, ePlanning provides access to real-time data, planning and spatial information. Elements of ePlanning are: the planning portal, complying development certificate applications, variations to standard development tools, local strategic planning statement forms, online development applications, lodgement, cladding register, concurrence and referral system.
Process simplification and digital focus
The Department of Planning has taken a customer-centric approach to planning to improve customer interactions by streamlining processes, making them faster and more transparent. This has resulted in a scalable solution delivered in an agile, staged approach. In line with the NSW Digital Strategy, the department positions digital and customer improvement as a core focus. Speaking about the new ePlanning portal, one developer said:
“The portal saves us hours of work when conducting due diligence on developments, it is simply more efficient for our business to perform desktop analysis especially due to the consistency across NSW Local Government Areas” Paolo Aquilia, Associate Director GHG Development
Next steps
ePlanning has been released to 23 councils and integrated with 14 state government agencies. The establishment of a planning panel and rollout to all councils (including adoption, training and change management) is next. Once fully adopted across NSW, ePlanning will standardise planning application forms and processes.
Additional information and support
The Innovation team has meet with agencies such as the Department of Planning to identify and leverage customer-first, digital initiatives. The Innovation NSW, Digital NSW Accelerator (DNA) and Digital Design System (DDS) teams regularly engage with agencies across NSW Government to provide assistance and identify opportunities to improve customer experience with Government services. We're always on the lookout for great projects to showcase, new collaboration opportunities and to offer support contact us innovation@finance.nsw.gov.au.