Planning

This page explains the key requirements including tools and guidance for property planning under the Commonwealth Property Management Framework (CPMF). It covers occupational density, property size, and Property Management Plans (PMPs), along with the main tools and strategies that support these decisions.

Officials are required to use the following mandatory planning tools and may also use other planning tools and resources to develop plans that support the obligations of the CPMF.

Mandatory planning artefacts

The following tools are mandatory requirements that support effective property planning:

Property Management Plan – a strategic planning document that aligns property use with an entity’s operational objectives is required under the CPMF policy.
Capital Management Plan (CMP) – a strategic document that summarises an entity’s planned and actual property and other capital expenditure across the budget and forward estimates as required under the Budget Framework. Guidance is available in RMG-124 Capital budgeting by Commonwealth entities in the general government sector.
Commonwealth Leasing Strategy (CLS) – officials must make their leasing decisions consistent with the strategy.

Other planning tools and resources

Occupational density target and occupancy planning – guidance on optimising the use of office space by setting and managing target workspace ratios (for example, square metres or work points per employee). It supports efficient utilisation, cost control, and flexible workplace design aligned to workforce needs.
Fitting-out Australian Government office premises (coming soon) – a forthcoming resource outlining standards and best practices for office fit-outs, including design principles, sustainability requirements, accessibility, technology integration, and compliance expectations.
Property Service Provider (PSP) support including Lease Transaction Planning – support services delivered by contracted PSPs to help entities with leasing activities, including market analysis, negotiation, procurement processes, and end-to-end lease transaction planning to support value for money and compliance.

Related legislation, strategy, and initiatives

Emissions reduction planning – requirements and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across government property portfolios, including efficiency measures, renewable energy adoption, and alignment with national emissions targets and sustainability commitments.
Legislative frameworks and whole-of-Australian Government (WoAG) initiatives – the broader regulatory and policy framework governing property, procurement, sustainability, and workplace arrangements, alongside coordinated WoAG programs that drive consistency, efficiency, and strategic outcomes across entities.

Property Management Plan

A PMP is an important strategic planning document that aligns property use with an entity’s operational objectives. Property management planning supports the effective operation of an entity’s operational objectives including workplace, infrastructure, and coordination with business activities, employees and stakeholders. A PMP also helps officials to:

set clear goals (for example, how much space is needed over the medium to longer term)
support long-term planning
improve value for money
align property decisions with government policies.

When developing a PMP, officials should consult with relevant corporate areas to confirm that staffing needs, technological requirements and broader entity objectives are captured in the plan. This may include human resources, information and communication technology teams, security teams, finance areas, workforce planning, diversity and inclusion, and operational areas. The PMP must account for property inventory (both owned and leased), staffing forecasts, and contingencies, with performance indicators like vacancy rates and accommodation costs to measure effectiveness. This approach supports effective use of the property portfolio in meeting entity objectives.

PMPs should be prepared in accordance with the CLS, the CPMF and relevant Australian Government and entity policies.

Scope

The scope of property management responsibilities may vary between entities, but generally includes:

acquisition (including leasing)
repairs and maintenance
refurbishments (for example, fit-out and capital improvements)
lease management
health and safety
energy and sustainability management
facilities management (including security and cleaning).

The PMP is designed to be dynamic to support changing government priorities and entity needs. Each PMP should reflect the entity’s property requirements, the context for establishing or updating the PMP, and be tailored to reflect the size and complexity of their property portfolio.

The PMP should include:

an analysis of current and future business needs
a gap analysis in existing property arrangements
strategies to meet property requirements, including short and long-term needs
consideration of the existing property portfolio in meeting the entity’s objectives consistent with the CPMF
significant property related risks and mitigation strategies
clear property objectives and defined performance indicators
approaches for monitoring performance and measuring progress
implementation and change management plans, where appropriate
timeframes for updates and review cycles
roles and responsibilities for development, approval, implementation, and ongoing management
strategies to respond to new or modified government policies (for example, the Net Zero in Government Operations (NZGO) Strategy).

A PMP template is available in the GovTEAMS Commonwealth Property Community.

Entity responsibility

Officials are responsible for ensuring their PMP is current and is uploaded into the Australian Government Property Register (AGPR) during the annual office data collection process.

Under the Property Services Coordinated Procurement Arrangements (PSCP Arrangements), PSPs are required to prepare a PMP and provide them to the entity. The entity is responsible for completing and finalising the PMP, ensuring it is accurate, complete and fit for their purposes. The accountable authority (or their delegate) must approve the final PMP before it is provided to Finance to inform the Commonwealth Leasing Strategy (CLS); while PSPs support the development of the PMP under the PSCP Arrangements.

Updates

The review frequency of the PMP depends on the size and complexity of the entity's property portfolio. For:

Simple and moderate portfolios – PMPs are typically concise and reviewed or updated only as required.
Complex portfolios – PMPs are detailed and may need to be reviewed or updated more than twice a year – refer to the PSCP Arrangements.
Highly complex portfolios – PMPs are very detailed and may need to be reviewed or updated quarterly or at other points in the planning or operational cycle, such as when transactions occur.

Regular review allows the PMP to remain aligned with entity objectives and respond to other factors like changes in the operating environment or government policy.

PMPs should be reviewed and updated when a significant change occurs that may materially affect an entity’s property requirements. Examples include entity, strategic, workforce, policy or operational changes, as well as major property projects such as relocations, refurbishments or fit-outs.

Commonwealth Leasing Strategy

The CLS seeks to support value for money outcomes across the Commonwealth property portfolio by considering Australian Government leasing needs on a strategic WoAG basis, including coordinated approaches to market, where appropriate.

The CLS is informed by data from the AGPR, entity survey responses, PMPs and local market analysis. It is also guided by established government standards and benchmarks, for example, occupational density targets, fit-out standards and cost benchmarks, sustainability and emissions benchmarks, and portfolio performance benchmarks.

The Strategic Property Adviser (SPA) is responsible for developing the CLS. To do this the SPA uses entity PMPs and engages directly with entities to better understand their property needs. Lease transaction plans are also expected to follow the CLS, supporting alignment with the strategic approach to leasing across government.

The CLS is maintained by Finance in consultation with entities.

Deviating from the Commonwealth Leasing Strategy

Where there are changes to business requirements, entities may apply for a deviation from the strategy outlined in the CLS. In these instances, officials should contact propertyframework@property.finance.gov.au.

For more information about the process or to access the variation form, please contact propertyframework@property.finance.gov.au.

Occupational density target and occupancy planning

The Australian Government’s occupational density (OD) target is 14 square metres of usable office space per occupied work point. The target applies to Australian Government office accommodation (leased or owned), that has 500 square metres or more of usable office area.

NCEs must consider the OD target when undertaking planning and throughout the property management lifecycle.

For further information see Commonwealth Property Management Framework.

Calculating the occupational density

OD is calculated by dividing the usable office area (in square metres) by the number of occupied work points.

OD is calculated as:

OD = Usable Office Area (m²) / Number of Occupied Work Points
OD = 1,000m² / 100 work points = 10m² per work point

Occupancy planning

OD is information that can be used to:

assess whether a property meets the OD target
track annual progress against the target over the life of a property.

Further information on calculating OD, including information on aggregate calculations is available in the GovTEAMS Commonwealth Property Community.

Occupancy planning should consider:

the entity’s workforce strategy

business requirements for the property, including the mix of operational and office-based staff

working arrangements such as flexible work arrangements, including working from home, part time or non-ongoing arrangements, of staff working at the property

average leave rates of staff working at the property

average staffing level forecast over the property lifecycle.

Finding the right property size

Property planning should align with strategic and workforce planning objectives to support service delivery and operational outcomes of the entity. Acquiring the right amount of space to meet operational objectives is a key element of property planning.

Overestimating accommodation requirements can lead to inefficiencies (for example, in meeting sustainability requirements) and may result in additional cost and effort to sublease or share vacant space. Investing resources for planning before starting a procurement process can reduce costs over the life of a lease. 

Officials should plan for a property size that meets its current and anticipated needs. This includes both office accommodation and operational spaces.

Officials are strongly encouraged to:

avoid procuring space for uncertain future needs

procure space only where a foreseeable business need exists

manage temporary or changing needs through shared accommodation, for example through sub-leasing arrangements or changes to an existing lease as potential options, where appropriate

review space holdings regularly and consider actions to support an efficient use of space

If excess space is procured, even for a limited duration of the lease, for example in the first 2 years when occupancy is planned to be lower than capacity, the entity should consider listing the vacant space on the Property Marketplace to improve the efficiency of the property portfolio.

Entities may sub-lease space from other Australian Government entities, or enter into shared accommodation arrangements through direct inter-entity arrangements to find or offer surplus office accommodation.

Sub-leasing and shared arrangements may be one way of addressing short-term, temporary or changing accommodation requirements, including peak occupancy periods, emerging business needs and opportunities to make better use of available space.

Such arrangements should be reflected in Property Management Plans (PMPs) so the Strategic Property Adviser (SPA) can factor it into the Commonwealth Leasing Strategy (CLS) and, together with the PSP, support the coordination of space at the appropriate time.

Officials should support decisions on the property size with analysis of workforce trends, utilisation, service delivery needs and operational drivers.

The rationale for accommodation decisions should be clearly documented, ideally as part of a cost-benefit analysis or other business case documentation, to support transparency, accountability and future decision-making.

Once accommodation has been procured, opportunities to adjust the amount of space are often limited and can be costly. Early, evidence-based planning is therefore critical to achieving value for money and ensuring accommodation remains appropriate over the life of a property.

Flexible and efficient fit-out design

Fit-out design should balance compliance, functionality and flexibility, ensuring Australian Government workplaces meet CPMF obligations and can adapt to changing business needs over time.

Guidance on fitting-out Australian Government office premises (coming soon) provides officials with advice for planning, design, implementation and fit-out project evaluation.

Capital Management Plan

An entity’s CMP is a strategic document that summarises an entity’s planned and actual property and other capital expenditure such as capital works across the budget and forward estimates. It also explains the funding source for the expenditure. Entities are responsible for developing CMPs.

The Capital Budgeting Policy outlines the rules and requirements for the management and reporting of capital/asset funding.

Additional guidance is available in RMG 124.

Capital Management Plans versus Property Management Plans

The CMP focuses on capital expenditure and funding. The PMP outlines how an entity will manage its property portfolio in alignment with operational needs. The PMP helps identify acquisition, renovation, sharing or disposal needs, and these decisions are reflected in the CMP through corresponding budget planning and capital investment.

Together, the PMP and CMP support property decisions that are both operationally justified and financially sustainable.

Property Service Providers support for property planning

PSPs are required to support entities under the PSCP Arrangements with their property planning. Refer to the relevant PSP Deed for information on the support available, any mandatory reports, and other documentation.

Emissions reduction

Entities are responsible for reducing emissions associated with their property portfolio in accordance with the Net Zero in Government Operations (NZGO) Strategy. The NZGO Strategy helps officials to meet the net zero commitment with officials encouraged to consider property related emissions reduction as part of property planning, including construction, refurbishment and leasing. The NZGO Strategy has mandatory requirements for leases, found at NZGO Strategy. PMPs can help entities identify emissions reduction opportunities, plan activities to meet NZGO requirements and monitor progress over time.

Entities should consider whether accommodation options support compliance with the minimum National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) Energy rating requirements outlined in the NZGO Strategy and should document how proposed accommodation contributes to achieving the Australian Government's emissions reduction objectives.

Officials should consider how proposed accommodation supports achievement of Australian Government renewable electricity targets, including opportunities to access renewable electricity through landlord arrangements, embedded generation or government procurement mechanisms.

Finance has updated the Green Lease Schedules, a formal commitment between tenants and building owners, to align with the NZGO Strategy.  Green Lease Schedules are a key mechanism for achieving NZGO outcomes, including renewable electricity procurement, energy performance improvements, data sharing and building performance optimisation. For the purposes of the NZGO Strategy, non-corporate Commonwealth entities (NCEs) must use a Green Lease Schedule and corporate Commonwealth entities (CCEs) and Commonwealth companies are encouraged to do so. Entity requirements are outlined in the NZGO Strategy. The documents are available at Green Lease Schedules.

Legislative and policy requirements

Officials must ensure that property-related planning activities meet the relevant legislative and policy requirements, such as:

National Construction Code 2022

Native Title Act 1993

Relevant state and territory legislation and local government requirements.