{"id":"F2020L00707","name":"Water Act (Northern Victoria Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2020","slug":"water-act-northern-victoria-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":440503,"registerId":"F2020L00707-fast-fetch-1775956107948","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Water Act (Northern Victoria Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2020","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nWater Act (Northern Victoria Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2020\n\nI, Keith Pitt, Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, make the following accreditation decision.\n\nDated 28th of May 2020  \n\nKeith Pitt\n\nMinister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1  Name\n\n2  Commencement\n\n3  Authority\n\n4  Definitions\n\n5  Accreditation of Northern Victoria Water Resource Plan\n\n \n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Water Act (Northern Victoria Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2020.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This instrument commences the day after registration.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under section 63 of the Act.\n\n4  Definitions\n\nNote: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in section 4 of the Act, including the following:\n\n(a) Authority;\n\n(b) Basin Plan.\n\n  In this instrument:\n\nAct means the Water Act 2007.\n\n5  Accreditation of Northern Victoria Water Resource Plan\n\n  The Northern Victoria Water Resource Plan that is set out, or identified, in accordance with section 10.04 of the Basin Plan, in the document titled Victoria’s North and Murray Water Resource Plan that the Authority received from Victoria under subsection 63(1) of the Act on 26 November 2019, is accredited.\n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument does not alter the substantive scope of water regulation; it performs a statutory accreditation of the plan submitted by Victoria and gives that plan legal effect under the Water Act. It does not itself expand or narrow the plan’s content or obligations; any changes to scope would be found in the accredited plan or in amendments to the Basin Plan or Act."},"complexity_factors":["Very short, single-operative instrument: one primary action (accreditation) and basic commencement/authority clauses.","Relies on external substantive document: the accredited plan (Victoria’s North and Murray Water Resource Plan) contains the operative regulatory details.","Cross-references other statutory instruments and provisions (Basin Plan s10.04 and Water Act s63), requiring readers to consult those texts for full effect.","Low administrative discretion within this instrument—the Minister records accreditation rather than specifying implementation rules.","Compliance and effects depend on the content of the accredited plan and State authorities’ actions, not on this instrument’s text."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument formally accredits the Northern Victoria Water Resource Plan that Victoria submitted to the Commonwealth on 26 November 2019, giving that plan legal effect under the Water Act. It takes effect the day after registration and is made by the Minister under the Act. The decision places implementation and compliance responsibilities on the accredited plan’s administrators and affects water managers and users in the Northern Victoria / Murray area by making the submitted plan the recognised regulatory instrument."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument performs exactly the function intended by section 63 of the Water Act 2007 — ministerial accreditation of state water resource plans. It has not expanded beyond this narrow, procedural purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short instrument — only 5 operative sections spanning roughly one page","Minimal defined terms — only one definition ('Act'), with others incorporated by reference to the parent Water Act 2007","Single substantive provision (section 5) performing one function: accreditation of a specific document","No conditional logic, exceptions, or nested provisions","Heavy reliance on external documents — the actual Water Resource Plan content sits in a separate Victorian document received in November 2019, not reproduced here","No cross-references beyond basic citations to the Water Act 2007 and Basin Plan"],"plain_english_summary":"The federal government has accredited Victoria’s Northern Victoria Water Resource Plan under the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan, giving it legal force for sharing and managing water in Northern Victoria and the Murray River.\n\nThis affects farmers, irrigators, local communities, the Victorian government and the Murray‑Darling Basin Authority because it locks in rules on allocation, environmental flows and sustainable use, aligning local water management with national Basin objectives."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/water-act-northern-victoria-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020","history":"/api/acts/water-act-northern-victoria-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/history","analysis":"/api/acts/water-act-northern-victoria-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/water-act-northern-victoria-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/water-act-northern-victoria-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/water-act-northern-victoria-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/documents"}}