Water Compliance Report 2019-20

Water corporations that manage water resources in non-urban areas play a key role in securing the rights of all water users and safeguarding the State’s water resources.

A breakdown of compliance activities between 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020

Water corporations report annually on their compliance and enforcement activities in accordance with clause 7.3A of their Statement of Obligations. The following state-wide statistics have been compiled for the 2019-2020 reporting period.

Compliance activities

In 2019-20, there was a greater level of compliance activity as water corporations continued to invest in installing new meters, telemetry on meters and database management systems that enable better monitoring of water take, greater scrutiny of potential breaches, and more comprehensive compliance reporting.

As at 30 June 2020, there were more than 68,000 meters installed across Victoria. Approximately 31,500 of these meters also have telemetry which allow water corporations to quickly detect breaches of the Water Act. Between 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020, water corporations with rural customers conducted a total of 96,481 manual meter reads. 21,325 additional inspections of meters were also performed to ensure that meters are maintained and functioning efficiently.

Water corporations with rural customers reported that they detected 2,414 potential breaches between 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020, 155 fewer than in the previous year^. The slight decrease in the number of potential breaches detected can be attributed to better use of data and systems to improve efficiency and target compliance risks and greater proactive communication with water users about compliance.

Water corporations also commenced 2,433 investigations (including potential breaches carried forward from the previous year) and finalised 2,155 investigations. Of potential breaches, 88.5% were investigated and finalised within the year. Unauthorised take continues to be the dominant category of potential breaches, at 98.5% of the total take.

^ Adjustments were made to the number of potential breaches detected and investigations commenced in the 2018-19 report to exclude non-metered domestic and stock accounts which were deemed negative as a result of low allocations.

Approximately 95% of all potential breaches detected were in the northern region of Victoria, which is commensurate with the higher number of water users and licence holders in the region and the high level of activity in the water market every year.

Figure 2. The number of potential breaches detected and investigations in Northern Victoria and Southern Victoria from 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020.

Enforcement actions

Water corporations have a range of enforcement options to pursue. Advisory letters and verbal warnings are usually the first enforcement action taken in response to a breach, followed by a formal warning letter, notice of contravention, reduce, restrict or discontinue water supply, or prosecution.

From 1 July 2020, water corporations will also be able to issue water infringement notices for less serious offences. Water corporations may take more than one enforcement action if the water user does not rectify the breach after one enforcement action.

Between 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020, water corporations took 2,658 enforcement actions against breaches of the Water Act (Table 1). This is 30% greater than the 2,043 enforcement actions taken in the previous year and 70% greater than the 1,562 enforcement actions taken between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2018. The increase in the number of enforcement actions taken is a reflection of Victoria’s strong commitment to zero-tolerance and on water corporations’ timely and resolute efforts to achieve zero-tolerance on water theft.

In 2019/20, 83% of the enforcement actions reported by water corporations were verbal warnings, advisory letters or formal warning letters. There were more advisory letters and fewer warning letters issued in 2019/20 compared to 2018/19 due to a change in terminology of letters used in some water corporations.

Similar to the number of potential breaches detected, approximately 96% of all enforcement actions taken were in the northern region of Victoria where there are more water users and licence holders.

Figure 3. Summary of enforcement actions taken between 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2020

Figure 4. Number of enforcement actions taken in Northern Victoria and Southern Victoria from 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020

The following section provides a breakdown of enforcement actions and the offences that were cited against those actions.

Prosecutions

There were 25 prosecutions in between 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 including 2 cases that were carried over from the previous year.

In 2019/20, COVID-19 and lock-downs in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria have transformed the way Victorian Courts operate and ability to see as many cases as previous years. As a result, only 4 prosecutions were finalised in this period and 21 will be carried forward to next year.

Figure 5. Summary of prosecutions between 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020

The following provides more details about the prosecutions that were finalised between 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020 and prosecutions that will be carried forward to the next year.

Priorities for 2020-21

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), together with water corporations, is committed to a zero-tolerance approach to water theft so that there is a level playing field for all water users. We are committed to ensuring that Victoria has a strong and robust compliance and enforcement system, with checks and balances in place that helps maintain – and continue to build – confidence in the market. Our priorities for the year are to implement the recommendations from the Independent Compliance Review, namely to:

• implement a consistent zero-tolerance approach to addressing unauthorised take
• embed a more rigorous proactive monitoring approach to monitor non-compliance
• strengthen our governance and reporting arrangements on unauthorised take
• step up communications to effectively engage with the public about water compliance in Victoria.

Page last updated: 08/09/23