The NSW Government has released updated Design Competition Guidelines providing practical, consistent, clear and fair advice on how to plan, deliver and participate in design competitions.
These guidelines replace the Director General’s Design Excellence Guidelines (Department of Planning 2011) and give industry and local government certainty on best practice and expected processes and outcomes when carrying out design competitions required by an environmental planning instrument in NSW.
Draft Government Architect NSW Design Excellence Competition Guidelines were developed in 2018 following review and feedback from key stakeholders including Department of Planning and Environment assessments teams, local government representatives, agencies and industry. The Draft Guidelines were exhibited in 2018 for public consultation and were trialled across over 40 projects seeking feedback from key stakeholders prior to finalisation.
The Design Competition Guidelines were finalised and commenced in September 2023.