How to Object to a Development Application in Australia: What to Write and When

To object to a development application, you make a written submission to the council (or other planning authority) that is assessing it, during the notification or exhibition period shown on the notice. The submission quotes the application number and site address, gives your name and address, and sets out your reasons as planning impacts, such as overshadowing, overlooking, bulk and scale, traffic or heritage. Lodge it before the closing date and keep a copy.

Claim Done drafts a development application objection from your answers for a flat A$49. You download it straight away and lodge it with the council yourself.

Who can object, and when

Not every application is open for comment. Each State sets its own rules on which applications are notified and for how long, so start with the notice: it names the council, the application number and the closing date.

• New South Wales. Since 1 September 2026 every council must use the statewide Community Participation Plan, which sets the public exhibition timeframes. Some lower-impact development that fits the height and floor space controls is not exhibited at all. Residential flat buildings and shop top housing keep a minimum 14-day exhibition. Applications lodged before 1 September 2026 and not yet decided stay under the earlier rules.
• Victoria. Anyone who may be affected by a permit can object. The notice gives a closing date at least 14 days after the last notice. According to Planning Victoria, you can still make a submission after that date, and even without a formal notice, as long as the council receives it before it decides.
• Queensland. The local government is usually the assessment manager. Anyone can make a submission on any development application, but appeal rights exist only for impact assessable applications, which are always publicly notified. For most of these the submission period is at least 15 business days after notice, and 30 business days where there is a variation request. Days from 20 December to 5 January do not count, according to the State’s Development Assessment Rules guidance (as at November 2026).

In other States and Territories, check the notice and the planning department of your State or Territory for the period and how to lodge.

What a council can consider, and what it cannot

A council decides an application against its planning rules. Your objection only helps if it speaks to those rules. Planning matters councils list include:

• overshadowing and loss of sunlight (solar access)
• overlooking and loss of privacy
• height, bulk, scale and floor space
• traffic and car parking
• noise
• heritage, landscaping and drainage
• non-compliance with the planning scheme or controls that apply to the site.

North Sydney Council, for example, asks for comments on views, floorspace, height, urban design, heritage, traffic and car parking, noise, landscaping, drainage, privacy and overshadowing. It also says moral objection, commercial competition and the personal circumstances of an applicant or objector cannot be given weight.

The other States say much the same. In Victoria, a council may reject an objection made mainly to gain a commercial advantage. The Victorian planning guide also says impacts should be linked to specific matters, like visual intrusion, unreasonable noise or overshadowing. Words like “amenity” on their own are not specific enough. Queensland’s guidance says the Planning Act does not allow personal circumstances to be considered, giving a fear that the development will devalue a property as an example. In NSW, City of Newcastle notes that existing or historical problems are generally not considered.

So leave out property values, business competition, and anything about the applicant as a person. If your real worry is “it will ruin the street”, put it as building bulk, height and character, and say exactly how.

What your submission must contain

The exact list differs by State, but the official checklists overlap. Include:

1. The council’s name, and the words “objection” or “submission objecting to” at the top.
2. The application reference number and the address of the site.
3. Your full name, your residential address and your contact details. In Queensland, the name and address of every person signing.
4. Your reasons for objecting, and how the development would affect you.
5. Your signature and the date. Victoria and Queensland both require a signed submission.
6. In NSW, a disclosure of any reportable political donations or gifts made by you or an associate from two years before the submission until the application is decided, if there were any.

Planning Victoria says a submission carries more weight if it is rational, factual, specific to the proposal and explains how you will be affected. It also suggests saying how the impacts could be reduced, through changes to the plans or permit conditions.

How a good objection is structured

This is the order the Claim Done draft follows. It is a structure, not a fill-in-the-blanks form:

• Heading. Addressed to the council, marked as a submission objecting to the application, with the reference number and site address.
• Who you are. Your name, address and how close you are to the site, for example “directly next door, sharing the rear boundary”.
• The proposal. One or two sentences on what the application proposes, as you understand it.
• Grounds of objection. One short heading per planning ground (overshadowing, privacy, bulk and scale, setbacks, traffic and parking, noise, stormwater, trees, heritage or character, non-compliance). Under each, the feature of the proposal that causes the impact and the effect on your property or the street.
• What you ask for. Refusal, or in the alternative amendments or conditions that would answer each concern, such as a lower height, bigger setbacks, privacy screening or keeping trees.
• Close. A request to be notified of the decision, your signature and the date.

How to lodge it and what to keep

Lodge it the way the notice says: the council’s online form or tracker, email, or post. Some councils, such as Newcastle, send an acknowledgement. Then keep:

• a copy of the submission exactly as lodged (Planning Victoria recommends this)
• the acknowledgement or receipt, with the date
• the notice, and a copy or screenshot of the plans you objected to
• any photos you took of your property and the site.

Expect your submission to be public. Victoria treats it as a public document that the applicant and councillors can see. NSW councils such as Newcastle say submissions are not confidential and may be published. Do not include personal details you are not willing to share.

What happens next, and appeal rights

The council considers the submissions alongside its planning rules, then makes a decision. In Victoria and Queensland the law requires it to consider objections or properly made submissions. An objection does not guarantee any result.

In Victoria, if the council itself decides the application, you may be able to speak briefly at the council meeting. Ask the planner.

Mistakes to avoid

• Missing the date. Check the closing date on the notice and lodge early.
• Not signing it. In Queensland, a submission that is not properly made (written, signed, on topic and on time) loses the right to appeal.
• Withdrawing too early. In Victoria, withdrawing your submission ends your right to apply to VCAT. In Queensland you can amend before the closing day.
• Arguing the wrong things. Property values, competition and personal grievances carry no weight. Specific planning impacts do.
• Being vague. “It is too big” is weaker than “the third storey will overshadow our north-facing living room in winter”.

If you want a clear, properly structured objection ready to sign and lodge before the closing date, start your development application objection. It costs a flat A$49, and you download the PDF straight away. Claim Done is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.