Part 1Preliminary

Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This Act may be cited as the Water Industry Act 2012. 2—Commencement (1) This Act will come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation. (2) Sections 18 and 26 must be brought into operation on the same day. 3—Objects The objects of this Act are— (a) to promote planning associated with the availability of water within the State to respond to demand within the community; and (b) to promote efficiency, competition and innovation in the water industry; and (c) to provide mechanisms for the transparent setting of prices within the water industry and to facilitate pricing structures that reflect the true value of services provided by participants in that industry; and (d) to provide for and enforce proper standards of reliability and quality in connection with the water industry, including in relation to technical standards for water and sewerage infrastructure and installations and plumbing; and (e) to protect the interests of consumers of water and sewerage services; and (f) to promote measures to ensure that water is managed wisely; and (g) to promote the economically efficient use and operation of, and investment in, significant infrastructure so as to promote effective competition in upstream and downstream markets. 4—Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears— adjacent land, in relation to other land, means land that abuts on the other land; authorised officer means a person appointed under Part 8 as an authorised officer; Commission means the Essential Services Commission established under the Essential Services Commission Act 2002; condition includes a limitation or restriction; connection point means— (a) the point at which a customer's pipes connect with any water infrastructure or sewerage infrastructure; or (b) in any prescribed circumstances—such other point as may be prescribed by the regulations; consumer means a person supplied with retail services as a consumer or user of those services; contravention includes a failure to comply; council means a council within the meaning of the Local Government Act 1999; customer means a person who owns land in relation to which a retail service is provided and includes— (a) where the context requires, a person seeking the provision of a retail service; and (b) in prescribed circumstances—a person supplied with retail services as a consumer or user of those services (without limiting the application of this definition to owners of land); and (c) a person of a class declared by the regulations to be customers; designated customers—see subsections (2) and (3); draining work means the installation, alteration, repair, maintenance or disconnection of sanitary drains; drains—a drain may include a pressurised system for the removal of sewage; equipment includes— (a) pipes, fittings and apparatus; and (b) any component of any equipment; Health Department means the administrative unit of the Public Service that is, under a Minister, responsible for the administration of the South Australian Public Health Act 2011; industry ombudsman scheme means the scheme applying for the purposes of section 25(1)(h); infrastructure includes— (a) pipes, conduits and associated fittings and apparatus; (b) pumping stations; (c) storage tanks; (d) bores and wells; (e) dams, reservoirs and wetlands; (f) embankments, walls, channels, drains, drainage holes or other forms of works or earthworks; (g) treatment facilities; (h) testing or monitoring equipment; (i) roads and other works to provide for the movement of vehicles or equipment or to provide access to land, works or other forms of infrastructure; (j) bridges and culverts; (k) buildings and structures; (l) components of any infrastructure; (m) other items brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations; land includes— (a) an estate or interest in land (including an easement); or (b) a right or power over or in respect of land; Minister's Department means the administrative unit of the Public Service that is, under the Minister, responsible for the administration of this Act; occupier of land or a place means a person who has, or is entitled to, lawful possession or control of the land or place; owner of land means— (a) if land is unalienated Crown land—the Crown; or (b) if the land is alienated from the Crown by grant in fee simple—the owner of the estate in fee simple; or (c) if the land is held from the Crown by lease or licence—the lessee or licensee, and includes an occupier of the land; plumbing means— (a) water plumbing work, sanitary plumbing work or draining work on the customer's side of any connection point; or (b) any other work brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations; retail service means a service constituted by— (a) the sale and supply of water to a person for use (and not for resale other than in prescribed circumstances (if any)) where the water is to be conveyed by a reticulated system; or (b) the sale and supply of sewerage services for the removal of sewage, (even if the service is not actually used) but does not include any service, or any service of a class, excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations; River Murray has the same meaning as in the River Murray Act 2003; road means a street, road or thoroughfare to which public access is available on a continuous or substantially continuous basis by the use of vehicles or as pedestrians or both and includes— (a) a bridge, viaduct or subway; or (b) an alley, laneway or walkway; sanitary drain means pipes and equipment to collect and convey sewage from a sanitary plumbing installation to an on‑site treatment facility or a sewerage or effluent disposal system; sanitary plumbing work means the installation, alteration, repair, maintenance or disconnection of pipes or equipment to receive and convey sewage to sanitary drains (including associated plumbing ventilation equipment); SA Water means South Australian Water Corporation established under the South Australian Water Corporation Act 1994; sewage includes any form of waste that may be appropriately removed or dealt with through the use of a sewerage service; sewerage infrastructure means— (a) any infrastructure that is, or is to be, used for— (i) the collection or storage of sewage and includes the connection point; or (ii) the conveyance or reticulation of sewage; or (iii) the treatment of sewage, including any outfall pipe or other work that stores or conveys water leaving infrastructure used for the treatment of sewage; or (b) any other infrastructure used in connection with sewage and brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations, but does not include— (c) any pipe, fitting or apparatus that is situated upstream of a customer's connection point; or (d) infrastructure situated entirely within one site and not connected to any other infrastructure situated within another site; or (e) any other infrastructure used in connection with sewage that is excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations; sewerage service means— (a) a service constituted by the collection, storage, treatment or conveyance of sewage through the use of a reticulated system; or (b) any other service, or any service of a class, brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations; site means an area of land constituting a single land holding; stormwater drain means pipes and equipment to collect and convey stormwater to a public stormwater disposal system; Technical Regulator means the person holding the office of Technical Regulator under Part 3; Tribunal means the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal established under the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2013; water includes rainwater, stormwater, desalinated water, recycled water and water that may include any material or impurities, but does not include sewage; water industry means any operations associated with the provision of water services or sewerage services; water industry entity means— (a) a person licensed under Part 4; or (b) a person recognised by the Minister under subsection (4) as a water industry entity for the purposes of this Act, and includes (where the context requires) a person who has been licensed under Part 4 whose licence has been suspended or cancelled or has expired or a person who is to be treated as a water industry entity under the regulations; water industry officer means a person appointed under Part 5 as a water industry officer; water infrastructure means— (a) any infrastructure that is, or is to be, used for— (i) the collection or storage of water, including a dam or reservoir, a water production plant or a wetland; or (ii) the treatment of water; or (iii) the conveyance or reticulation of water and includes the connection point; or (b) any other infrastructure used in connection with water and brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations, but does not include— (c) any pipe, fitting or apparatus that is situated downstream of a customer's connection point; or (d) any pipe, fitting or apparatus that is situated upstream of a customer's connection point to a stormwater drain; or (e) infrastructure situated entirely within one site and not connected to any other infrastructure situated within another site; or (f) any other infrastructure used in connection with water that is excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations; water plumbing work means the installation, alteration, repair, maintenance or disconnection of pipes or equipment (including water heaters) to be connected directly or indirectly to a water supply system; water service means— (a) a service constituted by the collection, storage, production, treatment, conveyance, reticulation or supply of water; or (b) any other service, or any service of a class, brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations; water/sewerage infrastructure means water infrastructure or sewerage infrastructure (or both). (2) A reference in this Act to designated customers, or designated classes of customers (or customers of a designated class), is a reference to customers, or classes of customers, designated by the Minister by notice in the Gazette. (3) The Minister may— (a) in acting under subsection (2), make different designations with respect to different sections of this Act; (b) by further notice in the Gazette, vary or revoke a previous notice under subsection (2). (4) The Minister may, for the purposes of the definition of water industry entity, by notice in the Gazette— (a) recognise a person within the water industry as a water industry entity for the purposes of this Act, or specified provisions of this Act; (b) vary or revoke the recognition of a particular person under paragraph (a). (5) For the purposes of this Act, a right to the provision of a particular service by a water industry entity may be taken to constitute the supply of a service by that entity. 5—Interaction with other Acts (1) Subject to this section, this Act is in addition to and does not limit or derogate from the provisions of any other Act. (2) This Act does not apply to or in relation to— (a) an irrigation trust, or any services provided or infrastructure held by an irrigation trust, under the Irrigation Act 2009; (b) the Renmark Irrigation Trust, or any services provided or infrastructure held by the Renmark Irrigation Trust, under the Renmark Irrigation Trust Act 2009; (c) any other person providing irrigation services designated by the Minister by notice in the Gazette, except to the extent prescribed by the regulations. (3) The Minister may, by further notice, vary or revoke a previous notice under subsection (2)(c). (4) This Act does not apply to any person or entity, or any circumstance, excluded from the operation of this Act by the regulations. 5A—Provisions related to operation of Part 9A (1) The Governor may, by proclamation made under this subsection, declare the extent to which Part 9A will apply in relation to— (a) specified water infrastructure or sewerage infrastructure, or a specified class of such infrastructure; or (b) specified infrastructure services, or a specified class of such services. (2) A proclamation under subsection (1) will have effect according to its terms (including so as to limit the operation of Part 9A or a proclamation made under that Part). (3) The Governor may, by proclamation, vary or revoke a proclamation under subsection (1). (4) Subject to subsection (5), the provisions of Part 9A are declared to be Commonwealth water legislation displacement provisions for the purposes of section 250D of the Water Act 2007 of the Commonwealth in relation to the operation of Part 4 Division 1 of that Act. (5) Subsection (4) has operation if or when the Governor, by proclamation made under this subsection, declares that that subsection takes effect as a law of the State.