Prepare a development licence application

You must prepare your own application documents or engage a qualified professional to do so on your behalf. Your application must use the Development licence application form and content guide.

Use the form and guide to:

  • understand what information is required
  • ensure you submit a complete and compliant application
  • avoid unnecessary delays and costs.

Key steps in preparing an application

Preparing a development licence application can be complex. Complete the following steps to meet all requirements:

Get pathways advice

Request pathway advice through our permission pathway process before you prepare an application. It is free and highly recommended.

We may also offer additional pre-application support, including:

  • support from an assessing officer to advise you on application requirements
  • meeting with our technical experts to advise you on key matters to address in your application.

We only offer this additional support if you seek pathway advice through our portal. The Permissions proposal pathway guideline has more information on preparing your pathway request.

Get professional help

Your application is a legal document once it has been submitted. Make sure it meets professional standards. This will help you avoid legal risks or complications during our assessment.

We recommend you engage:

  • a suitably qualified professional to prepare your application, such as an environmental consultant
  • suitably qualified subject matter experts for any detailed technical studies and reports.

If your application is low quality, we may not be able to make an evidence-based decision. In these cases, we will refuse your application.

Understand your regulatory requirements

Your application will need to show how your proposal complies with our assessment criteria. To do this you need to understand your obligations and duties under the Act.

Identify and document all relevant regulatory standards you will need to address in your application, such as:

Assess technical feasibility and regulatory alignment

Your application must show that you understand your activity, the risks it may create, and the controls needed to eliminate or minimise those risks so far as reasonably practicable. It must also be technically viable and able to meet all relevant regulatory requirements.

This may involve balancing business objectives with social, economic, and environmental requirements. For example, improving one aspect of a proposal may increase public health or environmental impacts in another. Your application should identify these trade-offs and explain how the proposal achieves the best overall public health or environmental outcome.

Understand the state of knowledge for your activity

Your proposal should reflect current information and industry knowledge about the activity, its risks, and available controls. Use relevant sources of information to prepare your application, including EPA publications, industry guidance, manufacturer information, research, and comparable development licence applications published on Engage Victoria.

Manage risk

Understanding and managing risk is central to a development licence application and your obligations under the general environmental duty. Use a risk management process to identify hazards and assess the risks of your proposal, including risks of cumulative impacts on the local environment.

This includes identifying:

  • the likely or potential risks of harm to human health or the environment
  • the likelihood of those risks eventuating
  • the degree of harm that would result if those risks eventuated
  • the availability of controls for eliminating or reducing those risks, including best available techniques or technologies
  • the costs of eliminating or reducing those risks.

A documented risk management process is required as part of your development licence application and must demonstrate how risks, including cumulative risks, will be effectively mitigated or managed.

Detailed risk assessments may be required depending on the nature, scale, complexity, and risk of your activity. They are usually needed where your risk assessment identifies medium-to-high risks, cumulative impacts, sensitive receiving environments, significant uncertainty, or controls that require detailed design or precise operation.

The Development licence application form and content guide includes more information on when detailed risk assessments may be needed and the methods you should use.

Show acceptable risk of harm

We must refuse an application if it poses an unacceptable risk of harm to human health or the environment. Your application must demonstrate that any residual risk of harm associated with the proposed activity:

  • has been minimised so far as reasonably practicable
  • does not pose an unacceptable risk of harm, including to any values of the Environment Reference Standards
  • will not emit unreasonable noise.

Use our publications and accepted assessment methods to assess potential risks of harm to human health and the environment.

Engage stakeholders

Before submitting your application, you should identify and engage with a range of stakeholders. Early and ongoing engagement with these stakeholders will help you avoid delays during assessment.

This includes:

  • other government agencies that may advise you on separate statutory approvals
  • any relevant referral agency listed in Table 1 Common referral agencies.

Engage community

Communities have a right to know about activities that may pose a risk of harm to their health and environment. We expect you to engage with the community early in your proposal and before submitting your application.

Use the approved application form

You must use the Development licence application form and content guide. If you do not use the approved application form, your application will be noncompliant. By law, we cannot assess noncompliant applications.

Avoid common mistakes

Common mistakes lead to delays and refusals. Avoid these common mistakes:

  • ignoring our advice or not seeking pathway advice
  • not using the Development licence application form and content guide
  • engaging unqualified or inexperienced consultants
  • not engaging technical experts or failing to verify their qualifications or their experience with similar applications
  • insufficient detail on the proposal, risk assessment, or proposed controls
  • a lack of supporting technical evidence
  • not engaging with stakeholders and community.

Apply for a development licence

Once you have prepared your application, you must submit it through our online portal.

We will only process properly submitted applications. This means you must:

  • answer all the questions in the form
  • attach your application documents
  • agree to all declarations and submit the form
  • pay the application fee.

We must reject your application if any of these steps are incomplete.

Learn more about how to apply for a development licence.

How to amend your licence

You may need to amend your development licence from time to time, for example to:

  • update administrative details
  • make minor changes to the activity’s configuration or staging.

If your amendment changes the risk profile of your activity, you may need to apply for a new development licence. The application only needs to cover the change or variation to your activity.

Before preparing an amendment application, request pathway advice through our permission pathway process.

See how to amend a licence, permit, or registration for more information.

How to transfer your licence

You may apply to transfer a development licence from the current holder to another person or organisation. You must have a written agreement to transfer the licence. The new licence holder must submit the application, not the current licence holder.

See how to transfer a licence, permit, or registration for more information.

Updated

Back to top