| Program title | 2020-21 expenditure ($'000) | 2021–22 expenditure ($'000) |
|---|---|---|
Sustaining a resilient and secure water register for Victoria | 3,909 | 4,280 |
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The department is responsible for the stewardship of Victoria’s scarce water resources, which it achieves, in part, through the oversight and management of water entitlements and the water market.
Victorian Water Register
The Victorian Water Register (VWR) is a critical enabler by providing a public register of all water-related entitlements in Victoria. Its purpose is to record water entitlements with integrity and provide the information required to manage Victoria’s water resources effectively.
The VWR 10-year strategy identifies partners and beneficiaries of the Victorian Water Register as its key stakeholders.
These stakeholders use and interact with the Victorian Water Register, who each performs different roles in the market and have varying needs and expectations. Importantly, these needs and expectations are also evolving over time due to changes in the water market, such as the need to adapt to external factors such as population growth and climate change.
These expectations are likely to increase in times of water scarcity. Stakeholders will be particularly watchful for errors or omissions, so the ongoing availability and integrity of the Victorian Water Register is essential.
Ongoing operation of the Victorian Water Register
The ongoing operation of the Victorian Water Register includes business-critical water accounting. State water accountants are delegated to the Minister’s legislative responsibilities to issue water allocation against entitlements in accordance with the respective resource managers’ seasonal determinations and apply carryover rules for unused water allocation and licence volumes.
This initiative will fund the following:
- Designing and building a new platform to deliver reliable, secure and user-friendly Victorian Water Register services. This is the scope of the Victorian Water Register Transform project.
- Maintain ongoing operation of the current Victorian Water Register to deliver action 9.4 of Water for Victoria while new Victorian Water Register services are built and rolled out, including water accounting functions.
This initiative will deliver 3 key benefits:
- A more cost-effective and reliable Victorian Water Register.
- New online and user-friendly services.
- Enablement of more efficient and effective water markets.
Environmental contribution 5 (EC5)
The following milestones have commenced, been completed or are ongoing.
Victorian Water Register Transform project team
Recruited the Victorian Water Register Transform project team comprising the following roles, project manager, solution architect, change lead, product owner, business analyst and project support officer.
EOI procurement scope
Finalised an EOI procurement scope that included:
- application support services for the current Victorian Water Register.
- project services to design and build a new Victorian Water Register.
- maintenance and support services for the new Victorian Water Register.
Victorian Water Register implementation partner
Executed an RFT procurement for a VWR implementation partner to provide services to the Victorian Water Register based on the EOI scope and responses.
Commenced onboarding a new VWR implementation partner (Deloitte) in May 2022.
Operating and supporting the Victorian Water Register
Continued operating and supporting the Victorian Water Register. Enabling customers and users to apply for licenses, change ownership of water shares and allocations, and manage their water usage.
Seasonal determinations
All seasonal determinations completed in the Victorian Water Register in target deadlines – within 3 hours of public announcements, an improvement on previous years – providing earlier access to water allocation for the public.
EOY processes completed
2020-21 (July 2021) EOY process completed on 30 June, with all accounts opened with correct carryover balances, allowing the water register to open at midnight on 1 July – 10 hours earlier than in previous years.
Place of Take legislation
Supporting implementation of new Place of Take legislation through business requirements and process definition, progress through to solution design and implementation.
Page last updated: 08/09/23