{"id":"F2020L00701","name":"Water Act (Victorian Murray Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2020","slug":"water-act-victorian-murray-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":440502,"registerId":"F2020L00701-fast-fetch-1775956107948","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Water Act (Victorian Murray 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 (Victorian Murray Water Resource Plan) Accreditation Decision 2020\n\nI, Keith Pitt, Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, make the following accreditation decision.\n\nDated 10th of June  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 Victorian Murray Water Resource Plan\n\n \n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Water Act (Victorian Murray 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 Victorian Murray Water Resource Plan\n\n  The Victorian Murray 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":{"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. There is no scope creep; it is a procedural approval mechanism operating precisely as designed by the parent statute."},"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 an existing state plan","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","Simple cross-referencing — only references to sections 4, 10.04, 63 of the Water Act and the Basin Plan"],"plain_english_summary":"The federal minister has accredited Victoria’s Murray River water resource plan, formally making Victoria’s rules on water take, environmental flows and sharing part of the national Basin Plan. This affects northern Victorian farmers and irrigators, environmental water managers, rural communities and state–federal water agencies by providing legal certainty that Victoria’s arrangements meet Australia’s national water‑management obligations and contribute to protecting the Murray‑Darling from over‑extraction."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument performs a narrow, declarative function: it accredits the specified Victorian Murray Water Resource Plan received 26 November 2019 and sets commencement as the day after registration. It does not expand or narrow the accreditation subject beyond identifying the plan in accordance with the Basin Plan reference (s5)."},"complexity_factors":["Single-purpose, short instrument (ss1 and 5) — limited substantive content and a single operative outcome (accreditation).","Relies on external materials (the Basin Plan reference s10.04 and the Water Resource Plan document received 26 November 2019) — key substance sits outside the instrument (s5).","Legal authority is a cross-reference to the Water Act (instrument made under s63) requiring consultation of primary legislation for full legal effect (s3).","Definitions are largely drawn from the Water Act (note to s4) — the instrument depends on Act-level definitions rather than restating terms, which increases navigational steps.","No implementation detail or conditions in the instrument — operational consequences depend on the accredited plan and other statutory instruments, not this decision itself (s5)."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument, made by the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia under section 63 of the Water Act 2007, accredits the document titled `Victoria’s North and Murray Water Resource Plan` that the Authority received from Victoria on 26 November 2019. It commences the day after registration (see ss2–5).\n\nMechanically, the decision gives Commonwealth accreditation to Victoria’s plan under the Basin Plan framework; the decision-maker is the Minister and the practical effect is to recognise the plan as accredited for the Victorian Murray area."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/water-act-victorian-murray-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020","history":"/api/acts/water-act-victorian-murray-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/history","analysis":"/api/acts/water-act-victorian-murray-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/water-act-victorian-murray-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/water-act-victorian-murray-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/water-act-victorian-murray-water-resource-plan-accreditation-decision-2020/documents"}}