Division 5.1 (Part 5) Activities
Not all development requires consent. Certain projects undertaken by councils, government departments or State agencies are “development permitted without consent”. Many of these activities are allowed under State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021. Before work can start, public authorities are required to assess the environmental impacts of a project. This process is called a Review of Environmental Factors (REF) and should be undertaken in line with the Guidelines for Division 5.1 Assessment.
Please note the Guideline for Division 5.1 assessments (December 2025) will apply until 31 May 2026.
A new updated Guideline for Division 5.1 assessments (March 2026) will commence from 1 June 2026.
From 1 July 2022, certain REF documents must be published (e.g. where the project cost is over $5m). This section allows users to search for and access REFs that have been made publicly available via the NSW Planning Portal (some REFs may instead be published on the website of the relevant public authority).
Some activities may be exempt from the requirements to publish a REF, where the Planning Secretary has issued a notice to exempt these activities.
Notices under section 171(6) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021
Notice signed 27 October 2022
Notice signed 8 August 2025