Explains disclosure obligations for domestic and family violence refuge applications.
This circular provides information to consent authorities, practitioners and applicants about disclosure obligations when assessing and notifying planning applications for domestic and family violence refuges.
Planning Circular PS 25-005 is point-in-time, non-statutory guidance issued by the NSW planning department on 3 November 2025 under the 'Housing' planning principle. Its stated purpose is to inform consent authorities (usually councils), planning practitioners and applicants about disclosure obligations that arise when planning applications for domestic and family violence refuges are assessed and notified. In plain terms, refuges rely on their location being kept confidential for the safety of the people staying there, so the normal openness of the planning system — where applications, plans and addresses are routinely published and notified to neighbours — can create real safety risks. The circular addresses how information about these refuges should (and should not) be disclosed during assessment and notification.
NSW consent authorities (typically councils), together with planning practitioners and applicants involved in applications for domestic and family violence refuges. As a circular, it is non-statutory guidance intended to support consistent practice rather than a binding statutory instrument.
The trigger is the assessment and notification of a planning application for a domestic and family violence refuge. At that point the disclosure obligations and considerations described in the circular come into play.
The circular provides information about disclosure obligations that apply when assessing and notifying planning applications for domestic and family violence refuges. The detailed obligations are set out in the full circular PDF, which is not reproduced in the supplied text.
Kiama is a small coastal LGA under housing and homelessness pressure, and could receive an application for a domestic and family violence refuge. If it does, Kiama Council as consent authority, along with the applicant and any practitioners, would need to follow the disclosure obligations this circular describes when assessing and publicly notifying the application — balancing the usual transparency of the planning process against the safety need to protect a refuge's location. The supplied text only summarises the circular's purpose; council staff should consult the full PS 25-005 PDF for the specific obligations before notifying any such application.
“This circular provides information to consent authorities, practitioners and applicants about disclosure obligations when assessing and notifying planning applications for domestic and family violence refuges.”
“Current planning system circulars provide point-in-time non‑statutory guidance to support the consistent application of planning principles, processes and practices across NSW.”
Reproduced from the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (planning.nsw.gov.au), © State of New South Wales, under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Text extraction may introduce minor formatting artefacts — rely on the official source for anything decision-critical.
This is an unofficial reproduction provided for convenience. It is not the official version of the legislation. For the official, in-force version, see legislation.nsw.gov.au.