Boards and committees

The Building Advisory Committee is a statutory body established by the Building Act 1993. Its major role is to maintain industry input into the building control process in the Northern Territory, by

• advising the minister on the administration of the Act
• investigating and reporting to the minister on all matters related to this Act referred to it by the minister
• accrediting building products, construction methods, designs, components or systems (Deemed to Comply Manual)
• such other functions as are imposed on it by legislation or as directed by the minister.

Meetings

The committee meets approximately every 4 weeks. Enquiries about meeting dates should be addressed to the registrar.

The Building Appeals Board is a statutory body established by the Building Act 1993 and is responsible to determine:

• modifications to the application of building regulations
• appeal by the owner or agent against the decision of a building certifier
• appeal by the director against the decision of a building certifier
• appeal against the director when acting in the capacity of a building certifier.

Building setbacks

In areas within gazetted building control areas and not covered by the NT Planning Scheme (unzoned land)

In gazetted building areas where the NT Planning Scheme does not apply (ie unzoned land such as Adelaide River, Timber Creek etc) setbacks are determined by the Building Regulations. Applications to vary these should be made to the Building Appeals Board, using the application for modification of setback requirements, see below.

In areas covered by the NT Planning Scheme (zoned land)

In areas covered by the NT Planning Scheme, applications to vary the setback provisions are determined by the Development Consent Authority.

Meetings

The Building Appeals Board meets only when the board has matters to determine.

Contacts

The Northern Territory Government has established the Building Compliance Taskforce.

Role

The Taskforce is reviewing buildings on government owned land in building control areas. It will also advise government on ways to comply if needed.

Building control areas

Building control areas are divided into two tiers:

• tier 1: Darwin, Alice Springs and Lake Bennett Resort
• tier 2: Katherine, Tennant Creek, Jabiru, Batchelor, Adelaide River, Borroloola, Pine Creek, Brewer Estate, Elliot, Katherine Gorge, Kings Canyon, Larrimah, Mataranka, Namarada, Timber Creek, Ti Tree and Yulara.

Membership

The Taskforce comprises executive Northern Territory Public Sector officers including:

• DIPL General Manager Infrastructure, Investment and Contracts (Chair)
• a representative from the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service
• a representative from the Department of Attorney-General and Justice
• a representative from the Department of Education
• a representative from the Department of Health
• a representative from the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities.

The Northern Territory (NT) Government has established regional working groups to help facilitate ongoing improvements to the delivery of commercial passenger vehicle (CPV) services.

While the main focus of these groups is on the operational needs of transport users and operators, outcomes from these groups provide valuable input into the policy making process.

The working groups have been established under the NT law, with the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics providing ongoing secretariat support.

The forums include the:

• Accessible Point to Point Transport working group
• Central Australian CPV forum
• Top End CPV forum
• CPV Review Advisory Forum.

Function of the tribunal

The Community Living Areas Tribunal is a statutory body originally established under the Crown Lands Act 1992 and retained under section 93(1) of the Pastoral Land Act 1992.

The functions of the tribunal are:

Contacts

The Development Consent Authority (DCA) is established under section 82 of the Planning Act 1999.

Each division of the DCA determines development applications within their area.

Outside of the division areas, the consent authority is the Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics.

Where the Minister is the consent authority, a division of the DCA may be appointed to hold a public hearing on behalf of the minister. Read about the public hearing on the NT Government website.

Division areas

There are seven division areas associated with the larger population centres.

The following maps show the seven division areas of the authority:

• Alice Springs PDF (450.5 KB)
• Batchelor PDF (149.8 KB)
• Darwin PDF (683.2 KB)
• Katherine  PDF (517.3 KB)
• Litchfield PDF (2.0 MB)
• Palmerston PDF (760.4 KB)
• Tennant Creek PDF (187.2 KB)

View the members.

Meetings

View the meeting dates and agenda items.

You can also read the previous meeting minutes.

Annual report

Read the
DCA Annual Report 2020-21 PDF (7.6 MB)
DCA Annual Report 2021-22 PDF (4.3 MB)
DCA Annual Report 2022-23 PDF (7.3 MB)

Contact

Chair/Secretary
Development Consent Authority
GPO Box 1680, Darwin, NT 0801

Phone: 08 8999 6044
development.consentauthority@nt.gov.au

The following regional flood mitigation advisory committees were tasked to provide recommendations to mitigate the impact of flooding in the Darwin, Katherine, and Alice Springs region.

• Darwin committee - the committee released its final report in August 2015 and is no longer active. Read about flood mitigation in Darwin.
• Katherine committee - the committee released its final report in August 2015 and is no longer active. Read about flood mitigation in Katherine.
• Alice Springs committee - the committee released its final report in June 2017 and is no longer active. Read about flood mitigation Alice Spings.

Infrastructure NT was established in 2021 to deliver strategic infrastructure planning and development that plans for, coordinates and aligns infrastructure needs with industry and population growth.

For more information go to Infrastructure NT website.

Significant Projects

Infrastructure NT is also responsible for the management and for delivery of significant enabling infrastructure projects and currently incorporates project execution teams.

To read more on Infrastructure NT significant enabling infrastructure projects go to Infrastructure NT website.

Commissioner

The Territory’s inaugural Infrastructure Commissioner, Louise McCormick, plays an integral role in ensuring the Territory plans and delivers the strategic public infrastructure to attract and maintain job-creating projects and industries.

Ms McCormick works closely with the Investment and Major Projects Commissioners to secure and deliver projects and investments.

Ms McCormick, formally appointed to the role in January 2022, is the Deputy Chair of Austroads and a Fellow of Engineers Australia chartered in Civil, Structural and Executive Engineering.

Ms McCormick is the former General Manager of Transport and Civil Services for the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics and for more than 16 years has led planning, delivery and management of some of the Territory’s largest and most complex infrastructure projects.

Ms McCormick was in 2022 named the recipient of the 2022 Roads Australia John Shaw Medal as an industry champion who has made a lasting contribution to Australia’s roads. Ms McCormick is the second woman and first Northern Territory-based recipient of this prestigious award for individual achievement.

Read about the Infrastructure NT executive team  on the Infrastructure NT website.

Contact

Energy House, Level 3
18-20 Cavenagh Street, Darwin City
GPO Box 2520, Darwin, NT 0801
Telephone: 08 8936 5696
Email: Infrastructure.NT@nt.gov.au

The Inter-agency Asbestos Management Working Group (the working group) was established by the Northern Territory (NT) Government.

Its goal is to progress a collaborative whole-of-government approach to improving asbestos awareness and asbestos management of NT Government assets, both within and outside the built environment.

Role

Its role includes:

• reviewing and advising on the effectiveness of the asbestos management policy and strategy
• ensuring that asbestos management plans are regularly reviewed, updated and effectively implemented
• providing information in relation to asbestos management decisions as they impact on their department including matters such as aligning business requirements and the resolution of cross-agency issues
• providing advice and leadership to drive a whole of government approach to meet objectives identified against the priority focus areas
• coordinating the NT's position in respect of the Australian Government's National Strategic Plan for Asbestos Awareness and Management 2014-2018.

Representation

The working group involves representation from:

• Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics – Chair, Secretariat and administration support
• Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet
• Department of Attorney-General and Justice
• Department of Education
• Department of Health
• Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities
• Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security
• Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade
• Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
• Department of Corporate and Digital Development
• Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services
• Power and Water Corporation.

Asbestos registers

For information about asbestos registers, read asbestos management for government assets.

Contact

For enquiries about other asbestos registers, email asbestosmanagement.dipl@nt.gov.au

Place names are our primary way of identifying different places, be it in cities, towns or out in nature.

Ensuring consistency and accuracy is essential to effective communications, orderly development, and public safety.

Place names must also be enduring to avoid confusion.

Place naming provides a unique opportunity to record the history and stories of the Northern Territory and to commemorate people who have contributed to its development, and supported its communities.

One of the principle guidelines applied by the Place Names Committee when considering whether to recommend a name to the minister is its association with the Northern Territory.

Place names are also a pivotal part of Aboriginal culture and history. The identification of geographic features using their original Aboriginal names is:

• a way of showing respect for Aboriginal culture, tradition and songlines
• an important part of the reconciliation process.

The use of Aboriginal language words in other types of place names (such as roads) also provides an excellent opportunity to elevate knowledge of the many first languages of the Northern Territory.

The Northern Territory Planning Commission is an independent statutory authority.

It sets the strategic framework for integrated land use, transport and infrastructure planning, working to deliver more sustainable and cost-effective outcomes for the community that reflect environmental and heritage values.

The Commission consults with the community to develop strategic plans and policies for inclusion in the Planning Scheme and advises on significant development proposals.

To find out more, go to the Northern Territory Planning Commission website.

A Ridesharing Steering Committee was formed to provide input into a regulatory model for ridesharing services in the Northern Territory (NT).

The committee submitted to Government for their consideration, a simple and effective model for incorporation into legislation to facilitate ridesharing in the NT.

It ensures:

• a level playing field between the various commercial passenger vehicle sectors, equivalent to their access to market
• National Sharing Economy Principles are incorporated into the model as much as practically possible.

Steering committee members liaised with other members of their industry sector to seek comment and input into the regulatory model.

Members

The Steering Committee comprised of the following members.

The Valuation Board of Review is established under the Valuation of Land Act 1963 to consider objections to decisions of the Valuer-General, usually for rating purposes.

The Act provides for the establishment by ministerial appointment of a Valuation Board of Review Panel of appropriately qualified persons from which a Valuation Board of Review is selected to consider an objection.

The information sheet PDF (258.8 KB) provides some information to assist anyone intending to lodge an objection and further information can be obtained by contacting the registrar.

Payment of objection fee

Please ensure you lodge payment of the $20 fee with your written objection. Cheques should be made payable to RTM (Receiver of Territory Monies). Please ensure payment is accompanied by details of your property as listed on the form.

Objection format

The board does not have a form to use when making your objection. Your objection needs to be in writing and should, as a minimum, include the details listed on the payment sheet and details of your original objection to the Valuer-General including grounds and the notices you received.

Contacts

This panel's administrative support is provided by the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics.