The Queensland Government has delivered on its commitments to amend laws applicable to renewable energy development by introducing a community benefit system and making wind farms and large-scale solar farms impact assessable.

Industry stakeholders, local government, the community and other interested parties provided feedback on the proposed changes to drafts of the Development Assessment (DA) Rules, Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Regulation 2025, Social Impact Assessment Guideline and State Code 26: Solar farm development from Tuesday 6 May to Tuesday 3 June 2025.

Submissions are now closed.

The feedback informed the reforms which commenced on 18 July 2025. More information about the key changes can be found on the Renewable energy and Development Assessment (DA) Rules page.

Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

The Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (the PSICBOLA Act) established the community benefit system under the Planning Act 2016 (Planning Act) and commenced on 18 July 2025.

Further information on the content of the Act can be sourced from the legislation page.