Announcement date
11 June 2024
Link to announcement
Record $300 million support package for Basin communities | Ministers (dcceew.gov.au)
Problem being addressed
The Water Act 2007 (Cth) was passed in 2007 to provide for the integrated management of Murray-Darling Basin water resources in the national interest.
On 22 November 2012, the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities announced that the Basin Plan 2012 (Cth) was written into law. The Basin Plan set a limit on the amount of water that can be taken from Murray–Darling Basin (Basin) rivers for industry, agriculture and community use, while leaving enough to restore and maintain a healthy environment and river system. To support the Australian Government’s decision making at the time, the Murray–Darling Basin Authority prepared a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS): Murray-Darling Basin Plan – Regulation Impact Statement – Murray-Darling Basin Authority | The Office of Impact Analysis (pmc.gov.au).
In August 2023, the Australian, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australian, and the Australian Capital Territory governments agreed a new pathway forward for Basin Plan implementation through the Agreement of Murray–Darling Basin Ministers to deliver the Basin Plan in full. The Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023 (Cth) (Restoring Our Rivers Act) commenced in December 2023, providing more options, more time, more funding, and more accountability to deliver the Basin Plan in full.
On 30 January 2024, the Australian Government released Restoring Our Rivers: Draft framework to deliver 450 GL/y of additional environmental water. The release of the draft framework was the first step in delivery of the Basin Plan under the new deadlines. The draft framework outlines 3 new programs that the Australian Government will establish to deliver the 450 GL/y target:
- Resilient Rivers Program: infrastructure projects, rules changes, land and water partnerships, and other ways to recover water
- Voluntary Water Purchase Program: purchase of water entitlements from willing sellers
- Sustainable Communities Program: adjustment assistance for Basin communities impacted by voluntary water purchase
While 12 years has passed since the publication of the 2012 RIS, the Office of Impact Analysis (OIA) advised Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) that the policy parameters and options under consideration were substantively the same. However, the environmental and socio-economic context has changed over that period, and there have been significant legislative and policy developments that have affected some of the assumptions made in the 2012 RIS. In addition, southeast Australia has experienced first-hand the impacts of climate change, with an increase in extreme events such as droughts, floods, fires, and mass fish deaths. As such, OIA requested that DCCEEW prepare an addendum to the 2012 RIS to guide the latest round of policy changes.
Proposal
The addendum includes information on the following elements, representing the key changes to the 7 ‘Impact Analysis’(IA) questions since the 2012 RIS:
- Basin Plan reforms since the 2012 RIS was published
- Observed changes in the Basin since the 2012 RIS was published
- Water recovery options and scenarios
- Evidence and insights from consultation on Basin Plan delivery and water recovery options
- An overview of next steps.
The addendum does not include commentary on:
- Reconsidering the impacts of water recovery scenarios presented in the 2012 RIS
- Water market reforms under the Restoring Our Rivers Act, as these reforms were certified as a RIS-like process
- Satisfying the new statutory requirement under section 86ADB of the Water Act that before approving a water purchase program for the 450 GL/y target, the Minister must consider the socio-economic impact on communities.
Assessed Impact Analysis outcome
A Regulation Impact Statement was prepared by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and was assessed as adequate by the then Office of Best Practice Regulation.
Regulatory burden
The DCCEEW estimates these measures will not result in any additional regulatory burden. The regulatory burden will continue to be placed on the Commonwealth and Basin states who will administer, and report on, the programs that will deliver the Basin Plan in full. The costs associated with regulatory burden (e.g. the administrative costs) are consistent with what was presented in the RIS.
OIA comments
The OIA does not formally assess addenda, but offer the following comments on the quality of the document:
- The addendum contains strong responses to each of the seven IA questions
- The detail around changes since the original RIS provides a clear illustration of the changes in the physical and socio-economic context in the basin since 2012.
- The inclusion of detailed outcomes and impacts as a result of the proposed water recovery options supports the quality of the addendum.
- The use of ecosystem accounting to track the socio-economic outcomes of environmental watering will likely be a useful example for reporting long term change in other areas of environmental policy.