Clause 54, 55 and 57 example | City of Greater Geelong

Help us to help you - Clause 54, 55 and 57 written statement

Clause 55

Amendment VC267 gazetted on 31 March 2025 implements new residential planning provisions to boost housing construction to meet the housing needs of Victorians.

Clause 54

Amendment VC282 gazetted on 8 September 2025 implements new residential planning provisions to boost housing construction to meet the housing needs of Victorians.

Clause 57

Amendment VC300 gazetted on 16 April 2026 implements new residential planning provisions to boost housing construction to meet the housing needs of Victorians

The new provisions aim to:

facilitate quicker and more efficient decision making.
provide greater transparency and certainty for applicant's decision makers and the community about what is acceptable development and how it is assessed; and
ensure residential development is sustainable and provides reasonable standards of amenity for existing and new residents.

As a result of these Amendments, clause 54, 55 and 57 has been modified to provide that:

a development must meet all objectives.
if the standard is met the corresponding objective is met.
the responsible authority can only consider a decision guideline in clause 54, 55 and 57 if the corresponding standard is not met (to assist with determining whether alternative design meets the objective).
in deciding the application to which clause 54, 55 and 57 applies the responsible authority is exempt from considering any other matter or decision guideline in the planning scheme and specified matters under section 60 of the P&E Act.
where all standards are deemed to be met there is no third-party appeal.

As Clause 54, 55 and 57 has been codified to assist the assessing officer and the general public determine such compliance with the relevant standards, we have developed a Clause 54, 55 and 57 Written Assessment to assist you in assisting us in our assessments and to make decision making faster.

The attached document consists of the Objective the Standard Deemed to Comply Plan Reference and Right of Appeal.

The wording of the Objective and Standard do not change.
The Deemed to Comply column has wording in it that either stays as is or needs dimensions/calculations inserted along with a plan snippet.
Where you see black text, no change is required.
Where you see black text on a yellow background a dimension or calculation needs to be inserted.
Where there is orange text, you need to consider if this is relevant to your response or not. If relevant change to back text and delete non-relevant orange text.
Where you see variation, this is where you describe the variation then underneath the decision guidelines of that Standard you provide your response to those guidelines explaining how the alternative design meets the Objective.

Whilst we appreciate this is a departure from past practices the more detail you can provide the quicker the decisions should be and by using this template we believe that this will assist.

Vicsmart applications

Updates have been made to the VicSmart process for eligible clause 54 and 55 applications. Following the changes, an application must meet the 'deemed to comply' standards of clause 54 and 55 listed under the applicable zone to be eligible for VicSmart.

A full clause 54 and 55 assessment is still applicable to a VicSmart application.