CRCWSC welcomes National Water Reform Inquiry

The Productivity Commission has just begun a new national inquiry into progress with the reform of Australia’s water resources sector.

The inquiry will focus on the progress of all Australian governments in achieving the objectives, outcomes and timelines anticipated under the Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative (NWI). The inquiry will also offer practical advice on how the NWI might be improved.

The CRC for Water Sensitive Cities welcomes this inquiry as a great opportunity to highlight the benefits of the water sensitive cities (WSC) approach to urban water management, and to encourage mainstream adoption of the WSC approach.

This is our opportunity to provide the Australian Government with evidence that the WSC approach works. We plan to make a submission, highlighting CRCWSC outcomes over the past eight years, particularly how we've influenced urban water policy and regulations. We also encourage our participants to look at the issues paper and make a submission.

Under the Water Act 2007 (Cth), the Commission is required to undertake three-yearly inquiries into the progress of reform in Australia’s water resources sector. This is the second inquiry. The Commission conducted the first inquiry in 2017.

Under the latest National Water Reform Inquiry, the Commission will:

• assess the progress of jurisdictions towards adopting the principles set out in the NWI
• consider the outcomes (including benefits and opportunity costs) of reform efforts
• consider the extent to which the NWI reforms help address emerging challenges faced by governments, water providers and water users, such as climate change or changes in economic circumstances
• make recommendations on future reform priorities, and ways in which the NWI could be improved.

The terms of reference also request the Commission to consider a number of other issues in undertaking the inquiry, including:

• the interaction of water policy with other areas (such as land use planning and urban development)
• the impacts of climate change on water resources
• the provision of reliable water services to regional and remote communities
• the principles to be satisfied for any Government investment in major water infrastructure.

These will form specific areas of focus for the Commission. The Commission also intends to consider issues identified in its 2017 inquiry, which in some cases went beyond the NWI.

The issues paper outlines the information requests for the inquiry. Information request 11 is particularly relevant, covering integrated urban water management. Information requests 9 and 10 deal with water security and quality in regional and rural areas—the focus of the Water Security CRC bid, of which the Water Sensitive Cities Institute is a core partner.

The Commissioners for this water inquiry are Jane Doolan and Drew Collins.

Again, we encourage our participants to look at the issues paper and make a submission. Initial submissions are due by 21 August 2020.

The final report is due by 31 December 2020.

You can find more information on the Productivity Commission’s website.