Frequently Asked Questions
How often is PolicyPing updated?
Professional and Practice accounts receive a daily digest, sent around 6:00 AM Melbourne time on days when something changed in your monitored councils (we don't send empty '0 changes' emails). PolicyPing scans provision text every day at that time. Free accounts receive a weekly summary, sent Monday around 8:00 AM Melbourne time. The Change Feed and Document Library always reflect the most recently detected state of each council's scheme. Amendment status updates (on the Amendments page) are tracked and delivered on the same schedule as your plan's alert frequency.
Which planning schemes does PolicyPing cover?
PolicyPing monitors 82 Victorian planning schemes: 79 local government area schemes and 3 state-managed special area schemes (Alpine Resorts, French Island and Sandstone Island, and Port of Melbourne). PolicyPing also tracks the Victoria Planning Provisions (VPP), the state-level template document that underpins all local council schemes.
What is a planning scheme amendment?
A planning scheme amendment is a formal statutory process under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to change the way land can be used or developed. Amendments go through several stages including preparation, public exhibition, panel review (if required), adoption, and gazettal. Learn more at https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/planning-schemes/amendments/amending-a-planning-scheme
When does the Victorian Government publish planning scheme updates?
The Victorian Government Gazette publishes planning scheme amendments on Wednesdays as part of the standard weekly gazette, and via Special Gazettes on any business day. Amendment status updates on the Planning Vic amendment tracker are processed by the Department of Transport and Planning after gazette publication, typically the same business day. Official gazette: https://gazette.vic.gov.au. Planning Vic amendment tracker: https://planning.vic.gov.au/schemes-and-amendments
What does tracking an amendment do?
Tracking an amendment means PolicyPing will notify you by email whenever that amendment changes status. Professional accounts receive daily alerts; Free accounts receive weekly digests.
What is the difference between the Change Feed and Amendments?
The Change Feed shows detected changes to the text of planning scheme provisions. In practice, provision text changes when an amendment is gazetted and the Planning Victoria ordinance is updated. The Amendments page tracks the formal statutory process: the stages each amendment moves through from preparation to gazettal.
Is an amendment law once it's gazetted, even if the scheme document hasn't updated yet?
Yes. Under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic), a planning scheme amendment comes into operation when notice of its approval is published in the Victoria Government Gazette — or on a later date specified in that notice. That gazettal is the legal commencement point. The consolidated, searchable scheme document that PolicyPing reads is then republished to reflect the change; that republishing is an administrative step and does not affect when the amendment takes legal effect. In practice the document update usually follows within a day or two, but it can occasionally take longer. PolicyPing tracks both events — the amendment's gazettal, and how long the official consolidated document takes to catch up (shown as a 'scheme document update pending' indicator while it hasn't). This is general information about how the amendment process works, not legal advice about any particular matter.
What counts as a "change"? Will I get noise, or just real updates?
PolicyPing only surfaces detected changes to provision text itself, not procedural noise. Amendment status movement (e.g. entering exhibition) is tracked separately on the Amendments page, so you can choose what to follow closely.
What do the severity levels (Formatting, Minor, Notable, Major) mean?
Every detected change is scored on a 4-level scale — Formatting, Minor, Notable, or Major — shown as a colour-coded badge wherever the change appears (Change Feed, diff pages, email digests). Formatting covers no-meaning-change edits like typo fixes. Minor is a small, contained wording change. Notable is a change likely to affect how the provision applies. Major is a substantial change. This is PolicyPing's own automated assessment of scope, not an official government classification. A "provision" is the full clause or schedule PolicyPing tracks (for example, Clause 43.03, or a Schedule to a zone) — this is the level shown throughout the site. Larger provisions are internally made up of many individually-numbered sub-clauses. When a provision changes, its overall severity reflects the single most significant sub-clause change found inside it, not an average across the whole document — so a major change buried in one paragraph of a long schedule is never diluted down to "Minor" just because the rest of the document is unchanged.
How is this different from checking Planning Victoria myself?
Planning Victoria publishes the source data, but checking it manually means visiting each individual council scheme and comparing text by hand across all Victorian councils. PolicyPing scans all of them daily and tells you only what changed, in plain English, in one place.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes, plans are cancel-anytime, no lock-in contracts.
What does 'in pipeline' mean?
'In pipeline' refers to amendments that are currently moving through the formal amendment process, from Draft through to PreGazettal. These amendments have not yet been gazetted. Once gazetted (Adopted status), the scheme text changes and PolicyPing detects the update. The pipeline stages in order are: Draft, Authorised, Under Exhibition, Submissions Under Assessment, Panel Requested, Panel Appointed, Adoption Under Consideration, Approval Under Consideration, PreGazettal, Adopted / Gazetted.
Why does my council show no changes?
If a council shows no entries in the Change Feed, no changes to that council's planning scheme provision text have been detected since PolicyPing began tracking. Planning scheme amendments often take months to progress through the pipeline before any provision text changes. You can monitor the Amendments page for in-progress amendments affecting your council.
What is a planning scheme schedule?
A planning scheme schedule is a locally-specific provision attached to a zone or overlay in a council's planning scheme. Schedules set out requirements that apply within that council, for example a Schedule to the General Residential Zone specifying local height limits or setback requirements. For a full explanation of how Victorian planning schemes are structured, see the Department of Transport and Planning's guide: https://planning.vic.gov.au/guides-and-resources/guides/guide-to-the-victoria-planning-provisions
Where does PolicyPing's data come from?
PolicyPing sources planning scheme provision text directly from Victorian Planning Schemes as published by the Department of Transport and Planning. Amendment data is sourced from the Planning Vic amendment tracker. Provision text is sourced from publicly available Victorian planning scheme documents and parsed for display. For the authoritative version of any planning scheme, always refer to the official Planning Vic scheme browser: https://planning-schemes.app.planning.vic.gov.au
Is PolicyPing useful for legal practitioners?
Yes. Planning lawyers can use PolicyPing to track amendments through every pipeline stage, from authorisation to gazettal, and to monitor exact provision text changes for due diligence and property transaction advice. The Practice tier provides unlimited council coverage and full clause history, giving a complete picture of which councils have adopted specific zone or overlay changes under each amendment.
Does PolicyPing provide legal advice?
No. PolicyPing is an information tool for planning professionals. Nothing on this platform constitutes legal or planning advice. For advice on a specific planning matter, consult a registered town planner or legal practitioner.
I have a question that isn't answered here. How do I get in touch?
Get in touch via the Contact page: https://www.policyping.com.au/contact