Civica partners with Enterprise AI on council planning

Civica has partnered with Enterprise AI to integrate the DAISY planning assessment tool into its Civica Altitude platform for Australian councils, targeting development application processing in local government.

The integration embeds DAISY in existing Civica Altitude workflows, which local authorities use for administrative and service functions. The aim is to reduce manual work in planning assessment and improve consistency in how applications are handled.

Australian councils are under rising pressure over housing approvals as development application backlogs grow and reforms push for faster decisions. Against that backdrop, the partnership focuses on one of the most document-heavy parts of council operations, where staff often assess incomplete submissions and carry out compliance checks by hand.

Under the arrangement, DAISY Assist guides applicants through submission requirements at the pre-lodgement stage, while DAISY Assess supports planning teams with compliance checks, interpretation of planning controls and report drafting. Embedding those functions in Civica Altitude is intended to avoid the need for a separate system for council staff.

According to the companies, early adopters have reported a 20% reduction in assessment timeframes and a 49% increase in service capacity. They also said the software improved application completeness before lodgement, an issue that can slow planning teams and extend approval times.

The agreement also expands Enterprise AI's role within Civica's local government software portfolio. Beyond planning, the AI module could be applied to other high-volume processes involving large numbers of forms, records and correspondence, including food premises registration and customer communications.

The partnership reflects a broader trend in public sector technology, as councils and agencies look to apply artificial intelligence to operational tasks rather than test it in isolated pilots. In local government, the appeal is often less about headline automation and more about reducing routine administrative work while keeping formal decisions with officers.

Shane Proctor, VP APAC at Civica, said: "Councils are facing growing demand to approve and deliver more housing faster - while still maintaining the standards their communities expect. That's exactly why this partnership matters. By bringing Enterprise AI into Civica Altitude, we're helping councils simplify and speed up the assessment process, remove delays, and give staff better tools to make confident decisions faster. The real impact is for the community - helping councils deliver housing projects sooner and get more homes built where they're needed most."

More than 6,000 customers use Civica software across local government, education, health and care, with operations spanning North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The company already has an established presence in government software, and the addition of DAISY gives it a more direct offering in planning assessment as councils look for ways to process higher volumes of applications.

Enterprise AI, an Australian company focused on public sector systems, said DAISY is already used by councils in Australia and is being piloted internationally. Its work has centred on development assessments, where legislative requirements, local planning controls and variable application quality can create a heavy administrative load for council teams.

The companies presented the integration as a response to practical operational pressures rather than a stand-alone technology deployment. For councils, the appeal is likely to depend on whether the software can shorten queues and improve the quality of applications entering the system without creating extra governance burdens for planners and administrators.

James Masella, Director Growth & Partnerships at Enterprise AI, said: "Councils carry a national responsibility on local budgets - assessing the development applications that housing supply depends on, without the tools enterprises have always been able to afford. We're thrilled to partner with Civica to put that capability in the hands of every council. Pairing a trusted system like Civica Altitude with Enterprise AI lets planners multiply their efforts, assess more applications, and deliver more homes sooner."