{"id":"nsw:act-2018-031","name":"Water Management Amendment Act 2018","slug":"water-management-amendment-act-2018","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"nsw","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"31 of 2018","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":29213,"registerId":"nsw-act-2018-031-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name of Act","content":"#### 1 Name of Act\n\n1 Name of Act\n\n> This Act is the [Water Management Amendment Act 2018](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2018-031).","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n2 Commencement\n\n> > (1) This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation, except as provided by subsection (2).\n> \n> > (2) Schedules 1 \\[1\\]–\\[7\\], \\[9\\]–\\[25\\], \\[28\\], \\[30\\], \\[31\\], \\[34\\]–\\[36\\], \\[38\\]–\\[42\\], \\[45\\]–\\[51\\], \\[53\\], \\[54\\], \\[56\\]–\\[59\\], \\[61\\]–\\[70\\], \\[73\\]–\\[76\\], \\[78\\]–\\[80\\], \\[85\\], \\[88\\]–\\[90\\], \\[92\\] (except to the extent that it inserts the definition of individual daily extraction component), \\[93\\]–\\[96\\], 2.1–2.3 and 2.5 commence on the date of assent to this Act.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"Schedule 1","sectionType":"schedule","heading":"Amendment of Water Management Act 2000 No 92","content":"# Schedule 1 Amendment of Water Management Act 2000 No 92\n\nSchedule 1 Amendment of [Water Management Act 2000 No 92](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2000-092)\n\n**sch 1:** Am 1987 No 15, sec 30C; 2024 No 69, Sch 2.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"36","sectionType":"section","heading":null,"content":"#### 36\n\n\\[1\\]–\\[36\\] (Repealed)","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"37","sectionType":"section","heading":"Section 87D","content":"#### 37 Section 87D\n\n\\[37\\] Section 87D\n\n> Insert after section 87C—","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"70","sectionType":"section","heading":null,"content":"#### 70\n\n\\[38\\]–\\[70\\] (Repealed)","sortOrder":6},{"sectionNumber":"71","sectionType":"section","heading":"Section 367 Evidentiary certificates","content":"#### 71 Section 367 Evidentiary certificates\n\n\\[71\\] Section 367 Evidentiary certificates\n\n> Insert at the end of section 367 (2) (v)—\n> \n> > > or\n> > \n> > > (w) information specified in the certificate was, or was not, published under section 87D on a website approved by the Minister, or\n> > \n> > > (x) water flows or levels of a particular part of a specified water source, or gauge readings or other specified measurements in relation to a particular part of a specified water source, were as specified in information published under section 87D, or\n> > \n> > > (y) water was or was not taken in accordance with information published under section 87D, or\n> > \n> > > (z) a quantity of water taken was determined by the Minister in accordance with section 60G (3),","sortOrder":7},{"sectionNumber":"72","sectionType":"section","heading":"Section 367B Rebuttable presumptions","content":"#### 72 Section 367B Rebuttable presumptions\n\n\\[72\\] Section 367B Rebuttable presumptions\n\n> Insert after section 367B (1) (e)—\n> \n> > > (e1) the fact that water is being or has been taken from a water source by the holder of an access licence gives rise to a rebuttable presumption that the water was not taken pursuant to a basic landholder right, and","sortOrder":8},{"sectionNumber":"81","sectionType":"section","heading":null,"content":"#### 81\n\n\\[73\\]–\\[81\\] (Repealed)","sortOrder":9},{"sectionNumber":"82","sectionType":"section","heading":"Section 398 (2A)","content":"#### 82 Section 398 (2A)\n\n\\[82\\] Section 398 (2A)\n\n> Insert after section 398 (2)—\n> \n> > > (2A) The Crown is not subject to any action, liability (including liability for defamation), claim or demand arising as a consequence of anything done under or for the purposes of section 391B or a regulation made under that section.\n> > > \n> > > Note.\n> > > \n> > > The liability of other persons for any such thing is dealt with under section 397.","sortOrder":10},{"sectionNumber":"83","sectionType":"section","heading":"Section 398 (3) (d)","content":"#### 83 Section 398 (3) (d)\n\n\\[83\\] Section 398 (3) (d)\n\n> Insert at the end of section 398 (3) (c)—\n> \n> > > , or\n> > \n> > > (d) a NSW government agency.","sortOrder":11},{"sectionNumber":"84","sectionType":"section","heading":"Sections 399A and 399B","content":"#### 84 Sections 399A and 399B\n\n\\[84\\] Sections 399A and 399B\n\n> Insert after section 399—","sortOrder":12},{"sectionNumber":"96","sectionType":"section","heading":null,"content":"#### 96\n\n\\[85\\]–\\[96\\] (Repealed)","sortOrder":15},{"sectionNumber":"Schedule 2","sectionType":"schedule","heading":"Amendment of other Acts","content":"# Schedule 2 Amendment of other Acts\n\nSchedule 2 Amendment of other Acts\n\n2.1–2.3\n\n(Repealed)\n\n2.4 [Water Act 1912 No 44](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1912-044)\n\n2.5\n\n(Repealed)\n\n**sch 2:** Am 1987 No 15, sec 30C.","sortOrder":16},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Section 129A Application of Part","content":"#### 3 Section 129A Application of Part\n\n\\[3\\] Section 129A Application of Part\n\n> Omit “(section 118A excepted)”.","sortOrder":19}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Insufficient substantive content is present in the provided text to determine whether the scope of this Act changed from its original intent. The document contains only navigation elements, version history, and status metadata. No amendment provisions, explanatory memoranda, or operative clauses are visible to assess scope drift."},"complexity_factors":["Amends an existing Act (Water Management Act 2000) rather than standing alone, requiring cross-referencing with the principal Act to understand its full effect","Multiple commencement dates across different versions (2018–2025) indicate staged implementation, which can be confusing to navigate","Some provisions have not yet commenced, creating uncertainty about which changes are currently in force","Water management law itself is inherently complex, involving licensing regimes, environmental obligations, and multiple stakeholder types","The document provided contains only administrative metadata, not the substantive amendment text, making full analysis impossible","Subject to automatic repeal mechanism under the Interpretation Act 1987, which adds a procedural layer unfamiliar to non-lawyers"],"plain_english_summary":"## Water Management Amendment Act 2018 (NSW)\n\n**What is this?**\nThis is an **amending Act** — meaning it doesn't create new law on its own, but instead makes changes to an existing NSW law called the *Water Management Act 2000*. Think of it like an official update or patch to the original rulebook governing how water is managed in New South Wales.\n\n**What does water management law cover?**\nWater management laws affect a wide range of people in NSW, including:\n- **Farmers and irrigators** who hold licences (official permissions) to take water from rivers, streams, or underground sources\n- **Mining and resource companies** that use water in their operations\n- **Local councils and water utilities** responsible for town water supply\n- **Landowners** near rivers, floodplains, or wetlands\n- **Environmental regulators** and conservation groups concerned with river health\n\n**Why does this matter?**\nUnfortunately, the text provided only contains the **administrative shell** of the Act (navigation menus, version dates, and status information) — not the actual content of the amendments. What we can observe is:\n- The Act has been **updated multiple times** since 2018 (with versions in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2025), suggesting it deals with ongoing, evolving regulatory matters\n- **Not all provisions have yet commenced** (meaning some changes are still waiting to be switched on by a future date or government decision)\n- Like most amending Acts, it will eventually be **automatically repealed** once all its changes have taken effect — this is normal and doesn't undo the changes it made\n\n**Bottom line:** Without the substantive amendment text, the precise impact on individuals cannot be fully assessed. If you hold a water licence, operate near waterways, or work in agriculture, mining, or utilities in NSW, you should check the current version of the *Water Management Act 2000* to understand your rights and obligations."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Act changes the Water Management Act 2000 by adding a public publication power for water‑take authorisations and measurements and treating reliance on that publication as constituting permission to take water where licence entitlement exists (s87D). It modifies evidentiary rules to facilitate proof about published information and water taking (s367 additions), and inserts a rebuttable presumption that taking by an access licence holder was not under a basic landholder right (s367B(1)(e1)). It limits Crown liability for actions under s391B/regulations (s398(2A)). It enables regulations to transfer ownership of metering equipment and to establish consultation and mediation schemes for environmental water releases (s399A; s399B). It also removes certain licensing requirements in the Water Act 1912 (Schedule 2). These insertions and delegations materially broaden the mechanisms available to regulate, evidence and administer water‑taking and associated infrastructure, shifting certain practical decisions to ministerial approval and regulation."},"complexity_factors":["Introduces new information‑publication regime that interacts with licence conditions (section 87D)","Creates evidentiary shortcuts and a rebuttable presumption affecting dispute burdens (s367 additions; s367B(1)(e1))","Grants Ministerial discretion to approve website content and to regulate detailed implementation (s87D(1); s399A; s399B)","Delegates substantial policy design to regulations (meter transfers, consultation, removal of equipment) increasing implementation risk (s399A; s399B)","Imposes Crown immunity for a specified class of acts, changing liability allocation (s398(2A))","Amends multiple Acts and repeals or omits prior provisions (including removal of driller licensing), requiring cross‑referencing (Schedule 2)"],"plain_english_summary":"What this amendment does (mechanically)\n\n- Publishes water-take information: The Minister may authorise a public website to show whether water may be taken from particular parts of a water source on a particular day or time, how much may be taken, and readings or measurements of flows and levels (section 87D(1)).\n- Treats reliance on published information as permission: If a person is entitled to take water under a management plan or access licence and takes water in accordance with the published information, the person is taken to be permitted to take that water for the purposes of the Act (section 87D(2)). The provision does not override any licence condition that is not reflected on the website (section 87D(3)(a)).\n- Strengthens evidence rules: Courts can accept certificates about whether information was published on the Minister‑approved website, about published flow or gauge readings, whether water was taken in accordance with published information, and whether a Minister determined a quantity of water (adds items (w)–(z) to s367(2)(v)). This makes those facts easier to prove in legal proceedings (section 367 additions).\n- Creates a rebuttable presumption about basic landholder rights: If an access licence holder is taking water from a source, there is a rebuttable presumption that the water was not taken under a basic landholder right (inserts s367B(1)(e1)). That shifts evidentiary burden in disputes about the source of authority for taking water.\n- Limits liability of the Crown for certain actions: The Crown cannot be sued for actions done under or for the purposes of section 391B or regulations under that section (inserts s398(2A)). The note says liability of other persons remains addressed elsewhere (s397).\n- Expands persons covered by a provision: Adds a NSW government agency as a category in s398(3) (s398(3)(d) insertion).\n- Enables transfer of metering equipment and related rights by regulation: Regulations can provide for transferring ownership of metering equipment and related property/rights/liabilities from Water NSW or the Ministerial Corporation to holders of approvals or other persons, and can cover ancillary matters including removal of meters if offers are not taken up (s399A).\n- Enables a regulated consultation scheme for environmental water releases: Regulations may establish a scheme to consult and negotiate with landowners/occupiers and others affected by proposed environmental water releases, including notification, circumstances of application, and mediation where legal issues arise (s399B).\n- Removes certain earlier provisions in the Water Act 1912: The amendment omits the requirement that drillers be licensed (omits s118A) and removes a related regulation head and exception language in that Act (Schedule 2 items).\n\nWhy the changes are claimed to be made (official purpose-claims and what they imply)\n\n- Officially, the new publication power and the rule that taking water in accordance with published information counts as permitted are presented as measures to provide clarity and real‑time information to water users and regulators (section 87D). The evidentiary additions (s367) are framed to make it simpler to prove facts about what was published and what was taken.\n- The regulation‑making powers for transferring metering equipment and for a consultation scheme are framed as practical tools to implement ownership change and manage the local impacts of environmental water releases (s399A, s399B).\n\nTesting those purpose-claims against costs, incentives, trade-offs and implementation mechanics (source‑grounded)\n\n- Who decides and where the information comes from: The Minister decides whether to approve the publicly accessible website and what information is published (s87D(1)). That creates a centralised point of discretion about the content and reliability of the published data.\n- Who pays / who bears costs: The Act lets regulations provide for transfer of meters from public entities to private holders (s399A). If regulations transfer ownership to holders of approvals, those holders are likely to bear acquisition, installation and maintenance costs (s399A(1)–(2)). If a transfer offer is not taken up, the regulations may provide for removal of equipment (s399A(2)(b)), which can impose costs on the administering body or on landholders depending on the regulation design.\n- Compliance and reliance burden on users: Access licence holders who rely on the published information to take water are treated as permitted to take water if they are entitled under a plan or licence and act according to the published data (s87D(2)). That creates an incentive for licence holders to rely on the website; it also creates a compliance burden to check and follow published data.\n- Evidentiary shifts: The new certificate categories (s367 additions) and the rebuttable presumption (s367B(1)(e1)) shift evidentiary burdens in enforcement proceedings. Licence holders or landholders contesting an enforcement action will face different proof requirements when published data or the fact of taking by licence holders is certified.\n- Liability allocation and risk of errors: The Crown is insulated from liability for actions under s391B or regulations under that section (s398(2A)). Where the Act authorises publication and reliance on that publication, errors in published data could affect private parties who rely on it. The Crown immunity for certain actions may limit legal recourse against the Crown for mistakes in that sphere; liability of other persons is addressed under s397 (as the note indicates).\n- Discretion and delegated lawmaking: Several key elements are left to regulation—transfer arrangements for meters (s399A), the consultation and mediation scheme for environmental releases (s399B), and the Minister’s approval of the website (s87D(1)). That concentrates practical design choices in subordinate instruments and ministerial decisions, which creates implementation risk dependent on how regulations are drafted and applied.\n- Effects on private choice and contestability: The changes make it easier for licence holders to rely on published information to justify taking water (s87D(2)), and make it easier to admit published data in court (s367). The rebuttable presumption reduces the evidentiary protection for claims that taking was done under a basic landholder right (s367B(1)(e1)). Together these changes change the landscape for disputes about who may take water and on what basis.\n\nNotable trade-offs and potential unintended consequences (source‑grounded)\n\n- Concentrated vs diffuse effects: The metering transfer power (s399A) and the Crown immunity clause (s398(2A)) create concentrated legal and financial impacts for particular affected parties (meter holders, landowners near environmental releases, and parties harmed by published content), while benefits (centralised information provision) are diffuse among licence holders and regulators.\n- Rent‑seeking or capture risk is not asserted in the text, but the combination of ministerial approval of the website (s87D(1)), regulation‑making power for transfers and consultation schemes (s399A, s399B), and liability shields (s398(2A)) means that implementation choices will determine who gains or pays in practice.\n\nPractical immediate effects for stakeholders\n\n- Access licence holders: Need to monitor the Minister‑approved website and may rely on it as authorisation to take water (s87D(1)–(2)); may face an evidentiary presumption that their taking was not under a basic landholder right (s367B(1)(e1)).\n- Landowners and occupiers near environmental releases: May be included in new consultation schemes if regulations are made (s399B); mediation processes may be available under regulations (s399B(2)(c)).\n- Water NSW / Ministerial Corporation and private holders: Regulations may shift ownership and liabilities for metering equipment from public entities to private holders, or provide for removal of equipment if offers are declined (s399A).\n- Parties affected by publication errors: Crown not liable for actions under s391B or its regulations (s398(2A)); other persons’ liability governed elsewhere (s397).\n\nKey sections cited: 87D (publication and reliance), 367 additions (evidence), 367B(1)(e1) (rebuttable presumption), 398(2A) (Crown immunity), 399A (meter transfer), 399B (consultation scheme), Schedule 2 amendments to Water Act 1912 (drillers licensing removed)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains focused on its original purpose of updating water management laws. The amendments expand specific operational mechanisms (real-time data publication, metering transfers, environmental consultation) but these are ancillary to the core water licensing and management framework rather than mission creep into unrelated policy areas."},"complexity_factors":["Amendment structure requires cross-referencing to the Water Management Act 2000 to understand full context","Multiple conditional provisions (e.g., section 87D(3) contains exceptions to the main rule)","Nested legislative instruments: primary Act authorises regulations which will contain substantive detail (sections 399A and 399B)","Evidentiary provisions create rebuttable presumptions requiring understanding of burden of proof concepts","Partial commencement provisions with extensive lists of schedule items commencing on different dates","Repealed provisions indicated throughout text creating fragmented reading experience"],"plain_english_summary":"This law makes several changes to how water is managed in New South Wales, mainly by updating the Water Management Act 2000 and making minor changes to the old Water Act 1912.\n\n**Main changes:**\n\n*   **Real-time water information:** The Minister can now publish live information on a public website about whether water can be taken from specific rivers or aquifers on specific days, how much can be taken, and current water levels or flow rates. If a farmer or water user follows this published information, they are legally protected and treated as if they are following their licence conditions—even if the website information later turns out to be wrong.\n\n*   **Legal presumptions:** If someone is caught taking water while holding an access licence, the law now assumes they were *not* exercising a \"basic landholder right\" (a free right to take water for domestic use or stock). This shifts the burden of proof onto the water user to show they were entitled to take that water without a licence.\n\n*   **Protection from lawsuits:** The government (the Crown) cannot be sued for defamation or other legal claims arising from things done under new provisions about water supply corporation boards.\n\n*   **Metering equipment ownership:** New regulations can be made to transfer ownership of water meters from Water NSW or the Ministerial Corporation to individual landholders or other people.\n\n*   **Environmental water consultation:** New regulations can set up a scheme requiring consultation with landowners who might be affected by planned environmental water releases (such as flooding for environmental purposes), including mediation if there are disputes.\n\n*   **Removing outdated drilling rules:** The old requirement for water bore drillers to be licensed under the Water Act 1912 is removed, along with related regulatory powers."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/water-management-amendment-act-2018","history":"/api/acts/water-management-amendment-act-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/water-management-amendment-act-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/water-management-amendment-act-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/water-management-amendment-act-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/water-management-amendment-act-2018/documents"}}