Common Planning Framework, Differentiated Local Implementation: Development Assessment Governance Across Greater Sydney Councils

Governments increasingly use processing-time indicators to evaluate development assessment, although comparability across councils is uncertain. This study examines how application composition, determination pathways, recorded workflows and information practices affect council-level comparisons in Greater Sydney, Australia. The analysis links NSW Online Development Assessment Data API metadata to council tracking portal histories across 12 councils between January 2023 and April 2026. It compares application portfolios, processing durations and determination routing, maps events to five stages, and evaluates recording practices. It is found that median processing durations ranged from 53 to 153 days; higher application volumes were not consistently associated with longer processing. Portfolios differed by proposed use, limiting comparisons of aggregate timeframes. Recorded workflows varied, with referrals and internal review representing recurrent coordination pressures rather than a uniform bottleneck. These findings extend research on differentiated policy implementation; common statutory rules do not necessarily produce comparable administrative performance measures. Processing time is a composite governance outcome shaped by case mix, institutional routing, recorded workflows and administrative visibility. Aggregate benchmarks should therefore serve as screening signals. Although numerical findings are context-specific, this analytical argument is relevant to decentralised regulatory systems in which local organisations implement common higher-level rules.