The Better Decisions Made Faster Act codifies housing supply as a goal of land use policy
The Victorian Parliament passed the most significant reform to planning legislation in decades—overhauling approval pathways, restricting third-party appeals, and introducing the goal of housing supply to every planning decision made in the state.
Victoria's Planning and Environment Act 1987 had not seen a comprehensive overhaul in nearly four decades. Over that period, the planning system had accreted layers of complexity—discretionary assessments, third-party objection rights, referral requirements, and VCAT appeals—that made building homes slower, more expensive, and less predictable with every passing year. In 1999, a 60-day permit decision was considered a blowout. By 2025, you’d be lucky to get under 200 days.
The planning scheme amendments gazetted in early 2025—the Activity Centre zones, the Townhouse Code, the Precinct Zone—had begun transforming what could be built and where. But they operated within the existing legislative framework. The Act itself still enabled drawn-out processes, gave objectors broad appeal rights on even minor developments, and imposed no time discipline on decision-makers.
Our research showed that planning approvals added over $200,000 per apartment in several LGAs, and that Victoria had an outsized number of opportunities for third-party appeal compared to other states—without a corresponding surplus of homes. Slow approvals cost Victorians an estimated $400–600 million per year. The system's structural incentives—where saying no was easy, costless, and rewarded, while saying yes was slow, risky, and punished—remained embedded in the Act itself.
The Planning Amendment (Better Decisions Made Faster) Bill 2025 was introduced on 28 October 2025, passed the Legislative Assembly on 14 November, and passed the Legislative Council on 9 December after extensive crossbench negotiation. The Assembly considered Council amendments on 3 February 2026, and the Bill passed both houses on 4 February 2026. At over 200 pages and 250 clauses, it is the most significant reform to Victoria's planning legislation in decades. The covenant reform and other provisions are expected to commence by 29 October 2027.
The Act creates a three-tiered planning permit system. Type 1 permits — for the simplest, lowest-impact developments — must be decided within 10 business days, with no public notice or review rights. Type 2 permits allow 30 business days. Type 3 permits, for the most complex proposals, allow 60 business days. This replaces the old system where virtually every application followed the same drawn-out process regardless of complexity.
The Act significantly scales back third-party VCAT review rights for lower-impact development, meaning compliant housing can be approved faster and with far less opportunity for delay. And it adds mandatory performance reporting that will publicly expose councils that delay housing approvals, creating transparency and pressure for faster decision-making.
The Act also creates a new framework for planning scheme amendments—low, medium, and high impact categories—with streamlined processes for lower-impact changes. This framework will speed up development and prime our state for positive growth for many decades to come.
When the Legislative Council established a Select Committee to examine the VC257/VC267/VC274 planning scheme amendments in April 2025, we appeared at public hearings on 30 April and lodged a detailed submission. The relationships we built with crossbench MPs through this process proved critical when the Bill came before the Council seven months later. We showed that the reforms furthered all 21 objectives of the Planning and Environment Act. We created a public submissions guide, and mobilised our members to submit in favour of reform.
When the Bill came before the Legislative Council in December, crossbench votes were decisive. In his speech, David Ettershank MLC—whose vote secured passage—thanked YIMBY Melbourne by name as one of the key stakeholders who informed his position, alongside the Grattan Institute. David Limbrick MLC cited the emergence of groups like YIMBY Melbourne as evidence that Victorians want a planning system that enables change rather than entrenching the status quo.
We called the Act's passage “the capstone atop three years of YIMBY Melbourne's pro-housing advocacy”, representing a planning framework that, for the first time, says "yes" by default.