Definition: The Coordinator-General is a statutory role established under Queensland law, responsible for facilitating, coordinating, and assessing major infrastructure projects across the state. The Coordinator-General acts as the central decision-maker for large and complex projects that require integrated assessment across multiple government agencies, legislation, and community interests.
The Role of the Coordinator-General
The Coordinator-General sits within the Queensland Government and is supported by the Office of the Coordinator-General (OCG). The role exists to cut through the complexity of approving major projects — providing a single point of accountability rather than requiring proponents to navigate dozens of separate regulatory processes independently.
In practical terms, the Coordinator-General has the authority to:
- Declare a coordinated project — formally triggering the EIS or impact assessment process for a major project
- Set the Terms of Reference (TOR) — defining the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement
- Evaluate the EIS — reviewing the completed environmental assessment and all public submissions
- Release an evaluation report — approving, refusing, or attaching conditions to a project
- Coordinate state agency responses — ensuring relevant Queensland Government departments provide input and conditions in a streamlined way
- Impose conditions — requiring proponents to meet specific environmental, social, or infrastructure standards as a condition of approval
Legislative Basis
The Coordinator-General derives their powers from the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (SDPWO Act), one of Queensland’s foundational pieces of economic development legislation. This Act gives the Coordinator-General sweeping powers to facilitate infrastructure development in the public interest, including the ability to acquire land, coordinate government agencies, and override certain local planning controls where necessary.
Coordinated Projects vs. Other Approvals
Not all projects go through the Coordinator-General. The role is specifically reserved for projects that are:
- Large in scale — typically involving major capital investment, such as mines, transmission lines, pipelines, ports, or industrial facilities
- Complex in nature — requiring assessment across multiple legislative frameworks and government agencies
- Significant in impact — likely to have material environmental, social, or economic effects on communities or ecosystems
For most smaller energy projects — such as a single wind farm or solar farm — the relevant approvals pathway may sit with the local council, the state planning framework under the Planning Act 2016, or the federal EPBC Act, rather than the Coordinator-General.
The Coordinator-General’s Evaluation Report
The centrepiece of the Coordinator-General’s role in the EIS process is the evaluation report. Once the proponent has submitted their final EIS, the Coordinator-General:
- Reviews the EIS against the Terms of Reference
- Considers all properly made submissions from the public consultation period
- Seeks further advice from state and local government agencies
- Prepares an evaluation report that either:
- Approves the project with conditions — allowing it to proceed subject to specific requirements
- Refuses the project — if the impacts are deemed unacceptable
- Requests additional information — if the EIS is considered inadequate
The evaluation report is a legally significant document. Conditions imposed by the Coordinator-General are binding on the proponent and must be complied with throughout the life of the project.
Real-World Example: CopperString 2032
The Coordinator-General played a central role throughout the CopperString 2032 approval process:
- April 2019 — Declared CopperString a coordinated project
- September 2019 — Released the final Terms of Reference for the EIS
- June 2021 — Requested additional information from the proponent
- February 2022 — Accepted the final EIS submitted by Powerlink Queensland
- September 2022 — Released the Coordinator-General’s evaluation report, approving the project with conditions
- September 2025 — Stated a new lapse date for the evaluation report of 28 September 2028, extending the window within which the project must commence
This timeline illustrates both the authority and the longevity of the Coordinator-General’s role — from first declaration through to ongoing management of project lapse dates, nearly a decade after the process began.
The Coordinator-General and the Federal Government
While the Coordinator-General is a Queensland state role, major projects often also require federal approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The two processes — state and federal — can run concurrently but are ultimately separate decisions made by separate authorities.
In the case of CopperString, the federal Department of the Environment determined the project was a controlled action in May 2019, and federal approval was granted in November 2022 — approximately two months after the Coordinator-General’s own evaluation report was released.
Effective coordination between state and federal processes is critical to minimising delays on major energy infrastructure projects.
Key Takeaway
The Coordinator-General is Queensland’s most powerful project facilitation authority for major infrastructure. For energy developers, planners, and communities, understanding the role — and engaging meaningfully at key stages such as the draft TOR and draft EIS consultation periods — is essential to influencing project outcomes and ensuring that significant decisions are made with the full benefit of community input.
Published on energyplanning.com.au | Energy Planning Glossary
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