Submission to Helping Shape a New National Water Agreement

ATSE welcomes the Australian Government’s commitment to renew the 2004 National Water Initiative with a National Water Agreement (NWA) to modernise Australia’s water management framework. ATSE’s submission suggests embedding a climate-conscious lens to decision-making, particularly concerning planning for resilient, future-proof, inclusive infrastructure. 

ATSE emphasises that the deliberate involvement and empowerment of communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, must underpin the National Water Agreement. ATSE suggested that clarification is needed around how the proposals to increase economic water rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be integrated into the existing sustainable water management entitlement system. 

ATSE’s submission recommends that the National Water Commission be reinstated so that robustness, transparency, compliance enforcement and verification processes can improve trust and confidence in agencies. Reinstating a modernised National Water Commission would support the implementation of the new National Water Agreement and overcome some of the challenges in implementing its previous iterations. 

Applying Australia’s world-class research and realising the full innovation dividend for the economy requires significant improvements in research translation. ATSE recommends that the proposed NWA includes an underlying principle of enduring research and development funding so that the Objectives can be appropriately met.  

Recommendations from ATSE's submission 

Recommendation 1: Embed a climate-conscious approach to water infrastructure planning in the National Water Agreement. 

Recommendation 2: Assess Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions when making strategic investments in water infrastructure. 

Recommendation 3: Greater coordinate water licence management between Australian states and territories. 

Recommendation 4: Fine-tune the National Water Agreement on how proposals to increase economic water rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be integrated into the existing sustainable water management entitlement system. 

Recommendation 5: Establish an ongoing management strategy including impartial periodic review of the National Water Agreement. 

Recommendation 6: Reinstate the National Water Commission to support the National Water Agreement in better aligning jurisdictional strategies to water management and provide assurance of independence in evaluating progress and outcomes. 

Recommendation 7: Include an underlying principle of enduring research and development funding so that the Objectives of the proposed National Water Agreement can be appropriately met.