Definition: The Office of the Coordinator-General (OCG) is a Queensland Government agency that supports the statutory role of the Coordinator-General in facilitating, coordinating, and assessing major infrastructure and industry projects across Queensland. It serves as the administrative and technical backbone of the project assessment process for some of the state’s most significant economic developments.
What is the OCG?
The OCG is not a standalone department but operates within the broader Queensland public service framework. It provides the professional staff, systems, and processes that allow the Coordinator-General to fulfil their statutory obligations under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (SDPWO Act).
While the Coordinator-General is the individual statutory decision-maker, the OCG is the organisation that does the heavy lifting — managing project timelines, coordinating agency referrals, facilitating public consultation, reviewing EIS documents, and producing the legal instruments that give effect to the Coordinator-General’s decisions.
Core Functions of the OCG
The OCG performs a wide range of functions across the lifecycle of major project assessment:
- Project intake and scoping — receiving Initial Advice Statements (IAS) from proponents and making recommendations on whether a project should be declared a coordinated project
- Terms of Reference preparation — drafting and consulting on the TOR that defines the scope of the EIS
- EIS administration — managing the public notification, submission, and review processes for draft and final EIS documents
- Agency coordination — liaising with state and local government agencies to ensure their conditions and requirements are incorporated into the Coordinator-General’s evaluation report
- Evaluation and reporting — preparing the Coordinator-General’s evaluation report, including the analysis of environmental, social, and economic impacts
- Post-approval monitoring — tracking compliance with conditions imposed in the evaluation report and managing project change applications
- Stakeholder engagement — providing information to communities, proponents, and agencies about active projects and the assessment process
The OCG and Queensland’s Economic Development Agenda
The OCG plays a strategic role in Queensland’s economic development by helping to unlock investment in major industries including resources, energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure. By providing a clear, structured, and accountable assessment pathway for complex projects, the OCG reduces regulatory uncertainty for investors and gives communities confidence that significant decisions will be made transparently.
This is particularly important in the energy sector, where major transmission projects, renewable energy zones, and generation facilities are increasingly required to undergo rigorous environmental and community assessment before proceeding.
How the OCG Differs from Other Planning Bodies
It is worth distinguishing the OCG from other planning and approval bodies in Queensland:
- Department of State Development — the OCG has historically sat within this or similar departments, though its exact administrative home has shifted with machinery-of-government changes over time
- Department of Environment and Science (DES) — responsible for administering Queensland’s environmental legislation, including the Environmental Protection Act 1994, and often a key referral agency in the EIS process
- Local councils — responsible for development approvals under the Planning Act 2016 for smaller projects; the Coordinator-General can override or replace local approvals for coordinated projects
- Australian Government (DCCEEW) — responsible for federal EPBC Act assessments, which run parallel to but separately from the OCG’s state process
The OCG’s unique value is its ability to integrate these separate streams — bringing state agencies, local governments, and the federal process together under a single coordinated assessment framework.
Real-World Example: CopperString 2032
The OCG managed the full assessment lifecycle of the CopperString 2032 Project — one of Australia’s most significant energy transmission projects — over a period of more than six years:
- Receiving and processing the Initial Advice Statement in February 2019
- Coordinating the draft and final Terms of Reference consultation in mid-2019
- Managing the public consultation on the Draft EIS from December 2020 to February 2021
- Requesting and reviewing additional information from Powerlink Queensland in June 2021
- Accepting the final EIS in February 2022
- Producing the Coordinator-General’s evaluation report in September 2022
- Processing a project change application relating to the Hughenden workers accommodation camp following approval
- Issuing a new lapse date for the evaluation report in September 2025, extending the project’s approval window to September 2028
This sustained engagement across nearly a decade reflects the OCG’s role not just as an assessment body, but as an ongoing project partner for major infrastructure developments.
Contacting the OCG
The Office of the Coordinator-General can be contacted for enquiries about active coordinated projects, the EIS process, or project approvals:
- Phone: 1800 001 048
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: coordinatorgeneral.qld.gov.au
Key Takeaway
The Office of the Coordinator-General is the engine room behind Queensland’s major project approvals process. For energy developers, planners, investors, and communities engaging with large-scale infrastructure proposals, understanding how the OCG operates — and when and how to engage with it — is essential to navigating Queensland’s regulatory landscape effectively.
Published on energyplanning.com.au | Energy Planning Glossary
// RESOURCES & REFERENCES
📋 Legal
▸ Terms of Use// OUR PARTNERS & NETWORK
// SUPPORT OUR MISSION
✨ Help us continue building tools that simplify complexity!
Every contribution fuels new features and improvements.
Thank you for being part of our journey! 🚀
// CONTACT US