Trusted institutions: Expertise, gender, and legitimacy on planning panels

Experts are increasingly replacing elected representatives in the planning of Australian cities and regions. Following concerns about delays and corruption, expert decision-making has been promoted as an important mechanism to restore trust in the planning process. Others have expressed concerns about the loss of democracy entailed in this shift, but this is not the whole story. The nature of expertise is itself significant, and we examine the composition of these new decision-making bodies. We focus on Local Planning Panels, the latest suite of expert planning bodies introduced in NSW, the state that has led the shift from elected to expert decision makers. Our analysis reveals that expert panels are highly gendered, which may work against the legitimacy and effectiveness of these increasingly influential planning bodies.