Stephen Rowley is a planner with more than 25 years of experience at state and local government, and as a planning consultant. He is the author of The Victorian Planning System: Practice, Problems and Prospects, the standard introductory text about the Victorian planning system. He was formerly a lecturer at RMIT University, where he taught in the planning program from 2013 until 2020. He is also an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Monash University, where he delivered courses in 2021 and 2022.
Stephen runs his own planning consultancy, RCI Planning, focussing on providing training and expert witness services. He also works part time at SGS Economics and Planning, where he is a Senior Associate. He is also the Planning Editor for the Victorian Planning Reports, and formerly co-edited the Victorian Planning Institute magazine Planning News.
Stephen is a leading commentator on the planning system, with his writing on planning issues having appeared in The Age, Crikey, Planning News, and on his own website. He is also a regular invited speaker on planning matters, presenting at sessions organised by The Planning Institute of Australia, The Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association, RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research, The Victorian Greens, and the National Trust, amongst others.
Stephen was a member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Planning Mechanisms for Affordable Housing in 2019, and the technical reference group regarding ResCode codification in 2024. He was made a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia in 2021.
Stephen has a PhD from the university of Melbourne and is the author of two books – the aforementioned Victorian Planning System: Practice, Problems and Prospects, and Movie Towns and Sitcom Suburbs: Building Hollywood’s Ideal Communities, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2015.
Qualifications
Doctor of Philosophy (UniMelb), Bachelor of Planning and Design (UniMelb), Bachelor of Arts (Hons, UniMelb)
Memberships
Fellow, Planning Institute of Australia.
Contact / course booking enquiries
Browse courses presented by Stephen.
To contact Stephen email stephen@rciplanning or phone 0434 961 922.