Enhanced Water Register Draft Regulations

Consultation has concluded

Consultation Process


Now Closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 27 July to 4 September 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

 

Tell us your views on the draft Water Register Regulations which support a new and improved Water Register

What’s being decided?

An enhanced South Australian Water Register is being developed with new and improved features to help water licence holders and water businesses manage their licensing needs. Changes will allow Water Register users to manage their water assets online, including new registration services and electronic lodgement.

Proposed Water Register Regulations (the regulations) will be implemented

Consultation Process


Now Closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 27 July to 4 September 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

 

Tell us your views on the draft Water Register Regulations which support a new and improved Water Register

What’s being decided?

An enhanced South Australian Water Register is being developed with new and improved features to help water licence holders and water businesses manage their licensing needs. Changes will allow Water Register users to manage their water assets online, including new registration services and electronic lodgement.

Proposed Water Register Regulations (the regulations) will be implemented in stages and will align with a new online water management customer portal, currently being developed. 

The regulations have been developed based on feedback from stakeholders including water licence holders, industry peak bodies, financial institutions, lawyers, conveyancers, water brokers and relevant State Government agencies.

To help you understand what these changes mean to you, we have put together a Regulations explanatory paper.

Get involved

To help inform your feedback, check the new features of the Water Register, read the changes proposed in the explanatory paper and the draft regulations.

To have your say:

Enhanced South Australian Water Register
GPO Box 1047
Adelaide SA 5001

Please note: Your submissions will be made publicly available in full on the Department for Environment and Water’s website unless you indicate on the submission that you wish for these to remain confidential. Please also note that any responses that are made on a confidential basis may still be subject to access under Freedom of Information laws.

How can your input influence the decision?

Your feedback will be used to finalise draft regulations for the enhanced South Australian Water Register. 

What are the next steps?

A consultation report including the feedback received and how it contributed to the final Water Register will be available on this and the Department of Environment and Water websites.

Contact details

For general inquiries, please email us at dew.wrsubmissions@sa.gov.au or call us on 08 8463 3752 during business hours (9am to 5pm, weekdays).

Closing date: 5pm, Friday 4 September 2020


Background


Now Closed

This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 27 July to 4 September 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

 

The Landscape South Australia Act 2019 (the Act) passed Parliament in November 2019. To support the implementation of Schedule 4 of the Act, which establishes the South Australian Water Register (water register), the draft Landscape South Australia (Water Register) Regulations 2020 (the draft regulations) have been developed and released for public consultation.

Regulations support the implementation of the Act by providing guidance on how certain parts are interpreted and will establish further requirements, functions and powers related to the Act. The Act was brought into operation on 1 July 2020.

The draft regulations have been prepared based on feedback received from earlier consultation with industry stakeholder and peak bodies, to understand the desired features and key requirements for an improved register.

These water register regulations are intended to commence during the middle of 2021. Further information about the WMS Program can be found at: Reforming our water licensing business and delivering a modern online water register. 

Consultation has concluded

  • Consultation update

    Public consultation on the draft Landscape South Australia Regulations was held between 27 July and 4 September 2020, which included the YourSAy consultation and information sessions.

    The Regulations provide guidance on how Schedule 4 of the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 is to operate. This schedule establishes the State’s Water Register, which is used to record water licences, permitting and well drilling information, transactions (such as trade), water use, and assessment and compliance.

    The consultation led to two changes being made to the Regulations:

    1. To lengthen the duration of security interests to be registered from 7 to 15 years (to coincide with the length of time financial institutions lend against water licences); and
    2. To provide clarity in the types of dealings that will need the consent of the security interest holder.

    The Regulations were made by the Governor on 26 November 2020.

    The new software for the new Water Register will continue to be built to enable the features contained in the Regulations to be accessible to water licence holders and their representatives within the new Water Register.

    Read the YourSAy Consultation Report Landscape South Australia (Water Register) Regulations 2020 for a summary of the consultation outcomes.

  • Water Register

    Water Register

    Now Closed

    This online engagement was hosted on YourSAy from 27 July to 4 September 2020. Below is a record of the engagement.

    Funding was secured in early 2019 for a new system, at its cornerstone a customer-centric State Water Register, that is online and accessible from mobile devices.

    The draft Water Register Regulations support the following new features of the enhanced Water Register:

    New registration services including:

    • Registration of security interests and caveats against water licences, improving the ability for licence holders to use the licences as collateral for loans.
    • Registration of the nature of co-holding arrangements of a water licence as either joint tenants or tenants in common – and clear consent arrangements for parties to deal with and mortgage their water interests.
    • An optional two-stage transfer process for permanent transfers of water licences and water access entitlements. This better supports property settlement processes by providing certainty that the change of ownership will only occur on registration of an approved transfer if that is the option chosen.
    • Greater flexibility for customers to manage their water assets by providing a new transaction type to subdivide and/or consolidate a water licence.

    New electronic lodgement services including:

    • Improved accessibility to information on the Water Register to support informed decision-making.
    • Ability for water licence holders to lodge applications via the electronic lodgement network, streamlining the application and lodgement process and minimising red tape.
    • Ability for eligible agents or trusted parties to lodge applications through the electronic lodgement network on behalf of water licence holders, streamlining dealings on behalf of clients.
    • Improved notification system in relation to water licences on the Water Register.
    • Protections against fraudulent activity on the Water Register including new identity and authority verification standards to ensure water assets and related information remain secure.

    These amendments are considered essential to provide a suitable scheme for the registration of security interests and to support the roll out of the Water Management Solutions (WMS) program by mid 2021. The new system is being developed by the WMS team in the Department for Environment and Water in collaboration with industry stakeholders.

    For more information check the Department for Environment and Water website.