Relevant authority (SA)

The relevant authority is the body or person with the legal power to assess and decide a planning or building application in South Australia. It is the SA term for the decision-maker, and which body it is varies with the assessment pathway.

Depending on the kind of development and the pathway, the relevant authority can be:

• a council assessment panel (CAP) for merit applications,
• a council’s assessment manager (a delegated officer) for simpler decisions,
• an accredited professional (a private certifier) for accepted and deemed-to-satisfy development and building consents, or
• the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) for state-significant or larger development.

So a given application has one relevant authority for each consent, set by the development type and pathway, and that body assesses it against the Planning and Design Code (for planning consent) or the building rules.

It is the SA counterpart to the New South Wales consent authority, the Victorian responsible authority, and the Queensland assessment manager, the same role under SA’s name.

For a builder the practical point is to know which relevant authority decides your application, because it determines where it goes, who assesses it, and how long it takes (an accredited professional can be far quicker than a panel). For accepted or deemed-to-satisfy work, an accredited professional may be able to grant consent directly; for merit assessment, it goes to the CAP or SCAP. Confirm the pathway and the relevant authority through PlanSA before lodging, so you target the right decision-maker rather than the slowest one by default.

Also known as: SA decision-maker, relevant planning authority.

Category: Planning / South Australia.

Related

• SA DA process
• Planning consent (SA)

See also

• Assessment manager
• Consent authority

References

• SA DA process (Chalkline) (verified 2026-06-04)

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Last updated: 2026-06-04. Verified: 2026-06-04. Quarterly review for currency.