This guide will assist users to establish their accounts with Planning Online. There are additional resources available on the PlanningWA website
Types of roles and access
There are different types of roles and access for Planning Online users, depending on the role you play as an individual or within an organisation (or entity).
As shown in the table below there are two main types of users:
Service Users - This is a person that is authorised to represent a given company, organisation or sole trader/individual. They will be able to access applications lodged on behalf of / referred to the organisation they represent. A Service User can represent one or more company or organisation, for example where Local Governments outsource their planning-related work to other planning businesses. A Service User will have access to the portal to view, edit, send correspondence and provide referral advice (if a local government or agency) through Planning Online.
Service Administrators – This would have the same profile as a ‘Service User’, except with the ability to manage access for other people in your organization. This is also a person that is authorised to manage Service Users for a given organisation. DPLH recommends having at least two (2) Service Administrator/s to ensure adequate cover. A Service Administrator/s can represent one or more company or organisation. A Service Administrator/s has the capability to add, edit or delete Service Users and other Service Administrator/s but they won't be able to assess applications lodged on behalf of / referred to for their given Account unless they are also added as a Service User. Any changes to a user's role, addition or removal will trigger an automatic email notification to the Account's Primary Contact and Service Administrator/s.
Once you have registered you can add other users via this Planning Online Organisation and Service Administrator Form
Registration options
Once you have a sense of what type of user you need to be, there are several options for registering a Planning Online account.
The registration options have been designed such that the Department does not hold account information for any organisation or individual. Rather, account security is managed by external third party entities that are configured to meet security standards.
WA Identity Exchange
Registering via the WA Identity Exchange means that your identity is verified by MyID (Commonwealth ID app), Facebook or Google. Once your identity is verified you can still set up an account using your work email, but signing in will be linked to the identity credentials from the options in the table below:
Microsoft Work Account
The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage is working on establishing Microsoft Work Account and this is expected to be deployed by January 2026.
Logging on
Once registered you are able to log into Planning Online by selecting one of the following buttons –
Once you choose to sign in, the next screen looks like this
If you choose to sign in via Digital ID, you will be taken to an external site to confirm your identity.
When Microsoft Work Account is available, provided your organisation is registered, you will be prompted to sign in using your normal work credentials.
If your organisation is not registered for Microsoft Work Account, you will see a screen that looks like this
When successfully logged in you will see this screen
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