Performance indicators

Performance indicators are ways of monitoring development activity enabled by the planning system.

The Performance Indicators Scheme (Scheme) introduces ways of measuring applications lodged, decisions being made and assessment timeframes in the system.

The Performance Indicators Scheme Annual Report (2024-25) (PDF, 1.4 MB), released on 21 November 2025, details the performance of South Australia’s planning system and is based on data sourced from PlanSA (the electronic development application processing system), which enables the monitoring of the planning system's performance over time.

About the scheme

Performance indicators describes the measuring of development, from early proposal stages to completion, and is a method of data gathering which can provide valuable information about the overall ‘health’ of South Australia’s planning system by divulging statistics about how many developments have been applied for, approved or are in progress.

The scheme is used to obtain data and statistics from an ePlanning platform, rather than manual collection of statistics from councils, reducing reporting requirements.

The ePlanning platform provides information about all development, from alterations or demolitions, to changes in land use or divisions of land, if there is a need for this information by industry professionals or the public. This results in greater transparency and efficiency in our planning system and assists understanding of the value, impact and kinds of development to inform future planning decisions for South Australia.

The ePlanning platform is the vehicle for evaluation of the planning system. This online system captures the aforementioned statistical information and offers new data, making it accessible to all interested parties beyond the development sector, and presenting information in new ways, such as in graphs and spatial maps.

The State Planning Commission oversees the Performance Indicators Scheme and its associated reporting (with the approval of the Minister).  The report is presented to Parliament along with the Commission’s Annual Report to meet its statutory reporting requirements.

Through integration with the ePlanning platform, the Performance Indicators scheme offers the following benefits:

  • better quality of information to assist making informed decisions about what is and isn’t working well
  • improved transparency around the effectiveness of the planning system to deliver community, industry and government expectations
  • promotion of a culture of ongoing improvement by understanding successes and shortfalls and facilitating further enhancements to make a more efficient, effective system
  • monitoring planning trends to identify areas where policy can be improved in response to changes in development activity
  • more efficient, accurate information collection through an ePlanning system that offers 24/7 access and automated data collection in place of the current manual process.

Documents

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