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The Queensland planning library
Buying, building or living next to a development in Queensland means meeting a pile of laws, policies and plans. This page lists the ones an ordinary owner or buyer actually runs into. For each: what it is, the moment it affects you, and where to read the official version.
General information, not legal or planning advice. Each link goes to the official source; where we hold a copy of the text for our own checks, we say which version.
The law
The statutes and rules that decide who can build what, who gets told, and who can challenge a decision.
Planning Act 2016
The main law for land use in Queensland. It sets out how a development application is made, assessed, decided and appealed, and what a planning scheme is.
When it affects you: When a neighbour lodges a development application, or when you want to object to one (see how to object, below).
Our copy: in force 3 Sep 2026.
Planning Regulation 2017
The detail the Planning Act leaves to regulation: which kinds of work need approval at all, which the state itself assesses, and the dictionary of terms.
- Schedule 6 lists development a council is not allowed to make assessable, whatever its scheme says.
- Schedule 9 covers building work that is assessable under the Building Act 1975.
- Schedule 10 lists development the state itself makes assessable or prohibited, such as clearing native vegetation or work near a heritage place.
- Schedule 24 is the dictionary — what each defined term means.
When it affects you: When you wonder whether a shed, a pool or a second dwelling needs approval — the regulation sets the floor under every council's scheme.
Our copy: in force 11 Sep 2026.
Development Assessment Rules (version 3.0)
The step-by-step rules for how a development application moves: confirmation, information requests, public notification, submissions and the decision period.
When it affects you: When the council takes longer than you expected, or the public notice sign goes up.
Our copy: in force 18 July 2025.
Minister's Guidelines and Rules (version 2.0)
Statutory guidance on how planning schemes are made and amended, and how local governments must apply them.
When it affects you: When your council proposes changing the planning scheme and you want to know how that is meant to work.
Our copy: in force 28 July 2023.
Planning and Environment Court Act 2016
How the Planning and Environment Court works — the court that hears appeals against planning decisions.
When it affects you: If you or a neighbour decides to appeal a decision.
Building Act 1975 and the Queensland Development Code
Building approval is separate from planning approval. The Queensland Development Code's mandatory parts (MP 1.1 to MP 1.4) set how close houses, sheds, pools and fences can be to boundaries, among other things.
When it affects you: When you build a shed, fence or pool: planning may say yes while the building rules still apply.
Read the official source Queensland Development Code (Queensland Government)
Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997
The law for community titles schemes — units, townhouses and estates with shared property and a body corporate.
When it affects you: Only when a subdivision creates a community titles scheme, for example splitting a block into townhouses.
State policy
Where the state government sets the direction that every council's planning scheme has to follow.
State Planning Policy (SPP) 2017
The state's list of interests a planning scheme must protect: natural hazards such as flood and bushfire, good farmland, biodiversity, water quality and more. It comes with an interactive map showing where each interest applies.
When it affects you: When your lot is in a flood or bushfire area — those layers on your property come from here.
Regional plans
Long-range plans for growth in each part of the state: ShapingSEQ 2023 for South East Queensland, and plans for Central Queensland, Wide Bay Burnett, North Queensland, Far North Queensland, Darling Downs, Mackay Isaac Whitsunday and other regions.
When it affects you: When you subdivide or build a large project on rural land — the regional plan decides where growth is meant to go.
Queensland Planning Provisions (QPP) version 4.0
The template every council's planning scheme is built from. It fixes the names of zones (like Low density residential) and the definitions of uses (like dwelling house), so schemes read alike across the state.
When it affects you: When you compare your council's rules with another council's — the zone and use names mean the same thing.
Property law you will meet
Buying and owning land brings in laws that sit next to planning rather than inside it.
Property Law Act 2023 and the seller disclosure statement
Sellers of Queensland homes must give buyers a disclosure statement (Form 2, from 1 August 2025) covering title and legal matters. It does not tell a buyer the zone, the planning overlays, flood history or what neighbours have applied for — which is why Landbrief exists.
When it affects you: When you buy: the disclosure statement is where many buyers assume the planning facts will be. They are not.
Read the official source — find the act in the official legislation list.
Land Title Act 1994
The law behind the register of land titles, including easements (a right for someone else to use part of your land, such as a drain) and covenants registered on the title.
When it affects you: When you want to build near a boundary or subdivide and an easement runs across the land.
Queensland Globe and Queensland Spatial
The state's free maps and spatial data: lot boundaries, aerial photos, flood and other mapped layers.
When it affects you: When you want to look at the raw map for your own lot.
Your council's planning scheme
A planning scheme is your council's rulebook for land use. It divides the council area into zones (what each area is for), adds overlays (extra rules where there is flood, bushfire, heritage and similar), sets codes (the standards a proposal is tested against) and includes tables of assessment (which projects need a development application, and at what level). The scheme is the first document to read for your own lot.
Scheme links go to each council's own site. The approval pages are shown where we have read the council's table of assessment.
Where the data on this site comes from
The maps and registers behind Landbrief reports are open data from the Queensland Government and local councils. See every source and licence.
Common questions
What is the Planning Act 2016?
It is the Queensland law that governs how land can be used and developed. It sets out how a development application is made, how councils and the state assess it, who must be told, how people can make submissions, and how decisions can be appealed.
What is a planning scheme?
A planning scheme is your council's rulebook for land use. It divides the council area into zones, adds overlays for things like flood and bushfire, sets codes (the standards a proposal is tested against) and includes tables of assessment that say which projects need a development application and at what level.
What is the difference between code assessment and impact assessment?
Code assessment tests a proposal only against the set standards in the planning scheme. Impact assessment is wider: the council can weigh the proposal's effects on its surroundings as well. Impact-assessable applications are the ones that are publicly notified, so neighbours can make submissions. Code-assessable applications are not.
Do I need to read the State Planning Policy?
Usually not directly. The State Planning Policy sets the state's interests, such as flood and bushfire hazards, and councils build them into their planning schemes. The layers on your property already reflect it, so your council's scheme is the document to read first.
Is the seller disclosure statement enough to tell me what I can build?
No. It covers title and legal matters. It does not tell you the zone, the overlays that apply, the flood history, or what neighbours have applied to build. Those come from the planning scheme and the council's register of development applications.
Next: do I need council approval?, how to object to a development application, or check an address against the layers that apply to it.