Law Council of Australia

Legal Practice Section

Water Act Review

Submission Date: 28 August 2026

This submission has been prepared by the Australian Environment and Planning Law Group (AEPLG) of the Law Council of Australia’s Legal Practice Section.

AEPLG welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the independent review of the Water Act 2007 (Cth).

The Water Act was introduced to set environmentally sustainable diversion limits and reduce the over-allocation of water entitlements that challenge water security in the Murray-Darling Basin (the Basin).1

The review must examine the operation of the Water Act and the extent to which its objects have been achieved, and identify opportunities under the Water Act to promote the principles set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.2 It must also consider, amongst other matters, whether the Water Act has the appropriate levers to effectively address the challenges of climate change in the management of Australia’s water resources.3

For the purposes of this submission, the AEPLG will focus on the objects in section 3 of the Water Act and, in that context, the current and future challenges to water security because of a drying climate.

The AEPLG observes that the objects of the Water Act have been amended to recognise the knowledge, traditions and customs of Indigenous people in the management and use of Basin water resources.4

1 Water Act, s 3(e) and s 23(1); Water Act Review Discussion Paper, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/water-act-review-discussion-paper-july-2026.pdf, p. 38;
2 Water Act, ss 253(1) and (1A).
3 Second Statutory Review of the Water Act 2007, Terms of Reference, https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/second-review-water-act-terms-reference.pdf, para 6.
4 See Water Act, s 3(fa).

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Last Updated on 01/09/2026

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