Community Improvement Districts in New South Wales
Project overview
The Community Improvement Districts Bill Act 2025 (the CID Act) passed NSW Parliament in May 2025. Information on this website will be updated accordingly to reflect the progress of CID policy in NSW.
The NSW Government is currently seeking feedback on the proposed Community Improvement Districts Amendment Regulation 2025. Please visit the Have Your Say page for more information and to upload a written submission.
The consultation period has been extended and will close on 12 September 2025. Your input is important to us, and we want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to contribute.
Contact email: communityimprovementdistricts@transport.nsw.gov.au
Consultation: Community Improvement Districts Regulation | Have Your Say
A Community Improvement District (CID) is a place-based partnership between local government and the community, led by local businesses, to support and grow local economies, town centres and main streets.
Within a CID, stakeholders work together for a common goal of improving our local spaces. We are looking at CIDs as a way to enhance the local trading environment, foster community collaboration and enable economic growth.
CIDs are an internationally recognised tool for businesses and the community to work together to contribute to great neighbourhoods, and can help create liveable, enriching, and desirable places and stimulate local economies. They maximise the vitality and quality of public spaces and give businesses an opportunity to become involved in conversations about how a place is managed.
Examples of the types of services, activities or projects that a CID could undertake include:
- non-physical interventions such as district branding, transaction data collection and joint strategic planning; and
- physical interventions such as events and programming, public art and beautification projects, improved public amenity, and security and safety measures.
Transport for NSW is proposing a new policy to make it easier for Community Improvement Districts (formerly Business Improvement Districts) to be set up in NSW.
Consultation on the CID Amendment Regulation 2025
Schedule 3 of the CID Act contains the CID Regulation which addresses key matters relating to CID policy, including the CID levy methodology. Amendments are now proposed to be made to the CID Regulation (via the CID Amendment Regulation) to provide further detail to enable the effective administration of CID policy. The proposed amendments include matters related to community consultation, developing a CID proposal, the CID proposal ballot, council support, governance and operational requirements.
Please visit the Have Your Say page where you can download the draft CID Amendment Regulation and the accompanying Guide to CID Policy and Regulatory Impact Statement. You are also encouraged to upload a written submission via the Have Your Say page. The consultation period is open until Friday 12 September 2025.
Background on CID policy development in NSW
In the past, stakeholders were engaged to consult on CID legislation via:
- surveys and formal submissions via Have Your Say
- a series of targeted workshops
- a webinar on 29 February 2024 (see link to recording).
Templates
Please contact Transport at communityimprovementdistricts@transport.nsw.gov.au if you would like to access draft templates that have been prepared to assist CID Proponents. The templates outline content that may be either required, or recommended, to be included in a CID Proposal and a CID Consultation Report.
Disclaimer: The NSW Government is currently preparing the CID Amendment Regulation. The CID Amendment Regulation may contain other or different requirements that must be complied with, therefore, these templates are subject to change.
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Contact us
If you have any questions about Community Improvement Districts or want to subscribe to the program updates, contact the team via email at: communityimprovementdistricts@transport.nsw.gov.au
More information
Draft Community Improvement Districts Bill 2023
The Draft Community Improvement Districts Bill 2023 (the draft Bill) was a consultation version of possible legislation to establish CIDs in NSW. It formed the basis of community engagement on draft legislation from December 2023 until May 2024.
The Draft Community Improvement Districts Bill 2023 (PDF, 314.82 KB) and A Guide to the Draft Community Improvement Districts Bill (PDF, 1.79 MB) are available to download.
Next Steps for Business Improvement Districts (Policy Paper)
The Policy Paper (PDF, 625 KB) addresses feedback on the recent White Paper, identifies next steps for Improvement District policy reform and outlines how the pilot program will streamline Improvement Districts being established in NSW.
Enabling Local Business Improvement Districts (White Paper)
A White Paper (PDF, 1.49 MB) was released in 2022 outlining potential policy options. This document includes case studies showing how Improvement Districts have contributed to place revitalisation in various communities. The document also includes a range of questions that feedback from stakeholders were sought on.
Business of Cities Paper
A background paper (PDF, 1.5 MB) prepared by the Business of Cities for Transport for NSW provides further context and background on Improvement Districts from a global perspective.
Past Webinars
Watch the webinar below to learn about Community Improvement Districts.
In October 2022, we held a 45-minute webinar and presented on:
- NSW Government place revitalisation programs
- Overview of the White Paper
- Next steps for streamlining Improvement District policy in NSW
- Future engagement opportunities.
View a recording of the webinar
We also facilitated a Q&A session with webinar participants.