Lead Agency Framework

Leading the way in State Development

The Western Australian Government has implemented significant reform of the project approvals process in Western Australia through a ‘Lead Agency Framework’.

The framework provides a more efficient and better coordinated process for responsible development in Western Australia.

Through the framework, major projects in WA are assigned to a Lead Agency that works with project proponents to manage all Government interactions and statutory approvals; helping to improve efficiency and reduce the time taken to deliver projects, while fully considering the public interest.

Working with project proponents

The Lead Agency reform enables the Department of State Development to work more closely with project proponents and approvals agencies to ensure we better expedite and facilitate responsible development.

The Department is the Lead Agency for State sponsored significant projects nominated by Government and is also Lead Agency in facilitating major resource, industry and infrastructure projects (including expansion of existing projects) where the proposed investment is significant or of strategic importance to the State.

Project Managers are responsible for working with project proponents on early stage scoping work and agreed timelines, and liaise with proponents while over-seeing that the approvals process works smoothly and on time. Project Managers also ensure that government-related issues are resolved by referring them to higher levels of authority when necessary.

How the new system works

When a proponent approaches the Department of State Development to facilitate the development of their project, an assessment is made on the nature and type of assistance that the Department can provide:

A Project Manager is nominated by the Department for the project.
The proponent is required to complete a standard project and company information request form to assist in determining the support to be provided.
A proposal is considered and the nature of services and assistance to be provided is then identified for the project.
The Project Manager meets with the proponent to discuss the proposed facilitation and the proposed timelines, which will be agreed.
The Department closely monitors the approvals process and the achievement of timelines to ensure that projects are tracking according to the agreed schedule.

Projects require different levels of service to progress through the stages of development.

Initially, projects are classified as Level 1, 2 or 3 depending on their degree of complexity, scale and significance. This determines the nature of assistance that the Department can provide to assist the project proponent. The classification level also determines the monitoring and reporting requirements of project proponents, which could be on a quarterly or monthly basis.

What the Lead Agency Framework means for project proponents

The Lead Agency Framework means that project proponents are able to work with a nominated Project Manager at the Department of State Development on every step of the project management process.

Proponents benefit from the improved coordination of approvals and are better informed on all government-related development considerations.

Improved coordination and monitoring of approvals means improvements in tracing the progress of projects. This enables proponents to know exactly where projects are in the approvals pipeline and what needs to be done next to progress projects.

The Department also works with project proponents and on State initiated projects to deliver the best outcomes for proponents and for the State.

Further information

Further information is available in the Lead Agency Framework Guidance Document.