New water resource laws

Overview

The Northern Territory (NT) Government is developing new legislation to replace the Water Act 1992.

Draft legislation will be ready for the Legislative Assembly by 2026.

Get a printable version of the water legislation reform in the NT PDF (463.8 KB).

Drivers for reform

Priority action 11 under the Territory water plan commits NT Government to delivering contemporary water resource management legislation contributing to sustainability and trust and confidence.

Today’s legislation, the Water Act, provides a sound legislative basis for water resource management.

New legislation will ensure water resource management is:

• fit for the future
• can adapt to climate change and growing competition for water
• meets community expectations with enhanced governance and accountability.

Program for reform

New water legislation will be developed across 4 phases:

• Exploring
  • communicate an approach to reform
  • background research
  • develop a model for reform
• Setting
  • publish model for reform
  • develop preliminary policy positions
• Prepare
  • finalise policy positions
  • develop draft legislation
• Passage
  • undertake parliamentary processes to create legislation
  • commence new water legislation.

How you can participate

Territorians will help establish the model for reform and throughout the reform program.

You can participate

• via your representative peak body - peak industry and interest groups will be involved in early, targeted engagement as the model for reform and policy positions are developed
• through Have Your Say - broader public consultation processes like Have Your Say will allow individual voices to be heard as each project phase is resolved.

NT Government advisory groups and agencies will also help refine the model for reform and policy positions as they are developed.

The International Association for Public Participation spectrum will guide engagement activities throughout the reform program.

Project update

We are in the exploring phase and the development of contemporary water resource laws to replace the Water Act is underway.

A Water Reform Taskforce has been established with a director of water legislation and principal policy officer, supported by the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment.

The taskforce is actively undertaking background research looking at other environmental reform processes and the feedback provided by stakeholders including in the development of the Territory water plan. They have also been exploring how other states legislate water resource management.

During April to July 2024 the taskforce has been busy connecting with and listening to land councils and peak industry and interest groups. During these face-to-face meetings in Darwin and Alice Springs the taskforce:

• explained the approach to reform
• sought to understand each groups priorities or interests in the reform
• discussed preferred mechanisms for ongoing engagement.

A project update was provided via a webinar. It was a short presentation on the work undertaken so far, and next steps for the project. Attendees of the live session had the opportunity to ask the taskforce questions.

View the webinar below.

Read a transcript of the project update video.