Referral agency
A referral agency is a body (RFS, SARA, water authority) a DA must be referred to for input or concurrence; referrals add statutory time and cause most DA delays.
Ask Chalkline about this →A referral agency is a government body that a development application must be referred to for input or concurrence before it can be decided. The rural fire service for bushfire-prone land, SARA in Queensland, a water authority, are all referral agencies. Each adds statutory time to the assessment, and referrals are the most common single cause of DA timeline blowouts.
When a proposal triggers a referral, because of an overlay, a use, or a threshold, the assessment manager must send it to the referral agency. The agency then either:
- provides advice the decision maker considers, or
- exercises concurrence power, where it can direct conditions or even refuse the part within its remit.
Common referral agencies include rural fire services (bushfire), water and sewer authorities, roads and transport bodies, heritage authorities, environmental regulators, and in Queensland the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA). Each runs its own statutory clock that pauses or extends the overall assessment.
For a builder the practical point is to identify referral triggers at the very start, because they are the biggest source of DA delay and you cannot control the agency’s timeframe. The fix is to address the referral agency’s concerns up front in the application, a compliant bushfire report, a stormwater plan, a heritage statement, so the referral comes back as a tick rather than a round of further-information requests. See the NSW and Queensland DA processes.
Also known as: Concurrence authority, referral body.
Category: Planning / Assessment.
Related
See also
References
- NSW DA process (Chalkline) (verified 2026-06-01)
Last updated: 2026-06-01. Verified: 2026-06-01. Quarterly review for currency.