NSW Government announces Investment Delivery Authority

The NSW Government has announced it is investing $17.7 million in the 2025–26 Budget to establish and support the work of an Investment Delivery Authority. Modelled after the state’s Housing Delivery Authority, the Investment Delivery Authority aims to accelerate approvals for major projects across all industries, including advanced technologies and energy.

Businesses have said that making major investments in NSW is too complex and too time-consuming, which is slowing down productivity. The government says that the Investment Delivery Authority will address this by helping to cut through red tape, coordinate across government and encourage investment.

“The fact is, major projects from the private sector are getting bogged down in red tape, which is making it harder to do business in NSW when we should be doing everything we can to get things moving,” said NSW Premier Chris Minns. “Our state is open for business and this change will encourage more people to bring their best ideas to life in NSW, all backed by our government.

“We’ve made great progress with the Housing Delivery Authority. This reform is a big signal that NSW is not just open for business — it’s serious about being a global leader in innovation, industry and investment.”

The Investment Delivery Authority is expected to assist around 30 large projects per year, thus bringing forward up to $50 billion of investment. It will provide advice on how best to navigate the planning system while evaluating projects for fast-track assessment and coordinating the necessary infrastructure to deliver them.

The Authority will also be able to identify reforms to remove hurdles for private investment, and offer government assistance to support a proponent if their project is chosen.

The Investment Delivery Authority will accept expressions of interest from eligible domestic and international investment projects valued over $1 billion and will come into effect in the 2025–26 financial year.

A multi-agency Investment Taskforce, in Investment NSW under the Premier’s Department, will support the Authority’s work. It will make recommendations to the Treasurer, the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, and the Minister for Industry and Trade.

The Authority will not be restricted to a specific industry or sector. Major projects able to be considered may include hotels, data centres, renewable energy projects and commercial developments.

The 2025–26 Budget also includes nearly $80 million of new funding to deliver the Innovation Blueprint, which will establish NSW as the best place to innovate, connect with investors and scale a business.

With NSW accounting for 65% of the nation’s venture capital investment in 2024, and being home to five out of eight Australian unicorn companies (privately held companies valued at over $1 billion), the state is already a recognised leader in driving economic growth through innovation.

“We have listened to what we are being told, loud and clear: everything in NSW is awesome, except for how long it takes to get major projects done,” said Treasurer Daniel Mookhey. “We are creating a way to address the blockages, speed up the process and ensure NSW is properly open for business.”

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