South East Queensland Development Application Data

    Planease tracks public development application registers published by Queensland councils. This page shows how long development approvals are taking and what kinds of applications are being lodged across South East Queensland — drawn directly from official council DA registers and updated regularly.

    15
    Councils tracked
    6,402
    Total DAs
    1,357
    Decided DAs
    25
    Median days to decision

    Median days to decision by council

    The median number of calendar days each South East Queensland council takes to decide a development application, from lodgement to decision. Lower is faster. Councils are listed fastest first.

    Mackay10 days
    Gold Coast18 days
    Redland18 days
    Ipswich22 days
    Sunshine Coast25 days
    Fraser Coast27 days
    Brisbane29 days
    Toowoomba31 days
    Somerset37 days
    Logan43 days

    Application type mix

    The most common types of development applications lodged across the tracked South East Queensland councils, by share of total volume.

    • Operational Works694 · 11%
    • Material Change of Use426 · 7%
    • Carry Out Building Work313 · 5%
    • Request for Compliance Assessment221 · 4%
    • Carry Out Building Work; Material Change of Use216 · 3%
    • Reconfigure a Lot191 · 3%
    • Carry Out Operational Work183 · 3%
    • Reconfiguring a Lot125 · 2%
    • Concurrence Agency Referral102 · 2%
    • Approving Plans of Subdivision72 · 1%

    About this data

    This page reports development application activity captured from publicly available Queensland council DA registers. Figures cover decided applications and are recalculated as new council data is published, so the numbers above always reflect the latest available picture for South East Queensland.

    Data as at 2026-06-21 (covering 2025-06-29 to 2026-06-21). Source: PlanEase analysis of public Queensland council development application registers..

    Frequently asked questions

    How long does a development application take in South East Queensland?

    Decision times for a development application in South East Queensland vary by council and by application type, typically ranging from a few weeks for straightforward proposals to several months for complex or impact-assessable ones. The median days-to-decision figures on this page are calculated from each council's own public DA register, so they reflect what is actually happening rather than statutory targets.

    Which councils decide DAs fastest?

    The "median days to decision by council" chart above ranks tracked South East Queensland councils from fastest to slowest based on their published decisions. Faster turnaround often reflects a higher share of simpler, code-assessable applications, so the ranking is best read alongside each council's application type mix rather than in isolation.

    Where does this data come from?

    This data is compiled from publicly available development application registers published by Queensland councils. Planease aggregates those registers and calculates decision times and application volumes; the source and the "data as at" date are shown in the About this data section above for transparency.

    How often is it updated?

    The statistics are refreshed regularly as councils publish new entries to their development application registers. Each time the page loads it fetches the latest figures, and the "data as at" date reflects the most recent update.

    Turning DA data into faster projects

    Knowing how long approvals take is only useful if you can act on it. The real delays in South East Queensland projects usually come after approval, when development approval conditions have to be satisfied before a plan can be sealed. Understanding both halves of the timeline — assessment time and post-approval condition management — is what keeps projects moving.

    For more on the approval-to-registration process, see our guide to plan sealing in Queensland and how plan sealing software helps teams track DA conditions through to plan registration.

    Learn more about Planease

    Built for DA condition management and plan sealing across South East Queensland.

    See how Planease works →
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