Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Australian state and territory legislation and policies
In Australia, as the colonies became states of a nation, they retained super-
ordinate legal status over water resources (see Figure 2.3). In each state and
territory of Australia (except Western Australia) water resource planning sits
in a contextual framework of legislation, policy and other types of plans. In
all cases there is a primary statute governing water resources that sets out,
to varying degrees, the purposes and content of water resource plans, the
processes for preparing and reviewing the plans, the effect or outcomes of
the plans and the relationship of the plans to other statutory instruments.
Generally the statutes have 'objects' or purposes that guide the adminis-
tration of the Act as a whole, including the development of water resource
plans. Some state Acts are quite similar and most incorporate principles of
environmentally sustainable development and reflect national water reform
priorities; see for example the objects of Queensland
Water Act 2000
and the
New South Wales (NSW)
Water Management Act 2000 (
Table 2.4). All those
performing a function or exercising a power under these statutes must seek
to achieve the objects/principles/purposes.
One key difference between these two states is that NSW legislation recom-
mends integrating water management with other aspects of the environment,
on a whole-of-catchment-basis, whereas Queensland defines the type of waters
covered such as rivers, aquifers and lakes. NSW also acknowledges the shared
responsibility between government and water users. In both pieces of legis-
lation some of the 'purposes' are defined more clearly in later chapters of the
Act.
Frequently legislation requires plans to consider or be consistent with
specific related policies and plans. State jurisdictions in Australia have also
taken a variety of approaches to providing a more detailed policy framework
or guidance for water resource planning. Western Australia, for example,
Figure 2.3
Australian states
