Definitions - Terms in the Regulations

 

I want to find out about...

• What is water information?
• What is the interim period? Can you give me examples?
• Who/what are persons?
• Historical information and new/ongoing information
  
• Web services
  
  
• FTP
• Time series data
• XML
• Metadata
  
  
  

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What is water information?

'Water information' is defined in s125 of the Water Act 2007 to mean 'any raw data and metadata, or any value added information product, that relates to: (a) the availability, distribution, quantity, quality, use, trading or cost of water; or (b) water access rights, water delivery rights or irrigation rights; and includes contextual information relating to water (such as land use information, geological information and ecological information').

What is the Interim Period? Can you give me examples?

The Interim Period is the period from the 30th of June 2008, the date the Regulations commenced, until the time by which a particular category of persons must start giving the specified New Information. The Interim period may be 3, 7, 9 or 12 months depending on both the category of person and the particular category or sub-category of water information. Historical Information must always be given within two weeks of the end of the Interim Period.

The following table shows when information must be given for each different Interim Period:

Duration of Interim Period	3 Months	7 Months	9 Months	12 Months
Date on which Interim Period ends	Tue 30 Sep 2008	Fri 30 Jan 2009	Mon 30 Mar 2009	Tue 30 Jun 2009
Date by which New Daily Information must first be given	Wed 1 Oct 2008	Mon 2 Feb 2009	Tue 31 Mar 2009	Wed 1 Jul 2009
Date by which New Weekly Information must first be given	Mon 13 Oct 2008	Mon 9 Feb 2009	Mon 13 Apr 2009	Mon 13 Jul 2009
Date by which New Monthly Information must first be given	Mon 3 Nov 2008	Mon 2 Mar 2009	Mon 4 May 2009	Mon 3 Aug 2009
Date by which New Yearly Information must first be given	Mon 20 Jul 2009	Mon 20 Jul 2009	Mon 20 Jul 2009	Mon 20 Jul 2009
Date by which Historical Information must first be given	Tues 14 Oct 2008	Fri 13 Feb 2009	Mon 13 Apr 2009	Tues 14 Jul 2009

Who/what are persons?

The term 'persons' is used in the Regulations to refer to both private and public entities. It includes individuals as well as trusts, organisations, companies, corporations and agencies of State, Territory or Commonwealth Governments that are required to give water information to the Bureau.

Persons named in the Regulations are grouped into eight categories; Categories A to H. The categories are based on functions. Persons may be in more than just one category as they may perform more than one function.

Historical information and New / Ongoing information

The Regulations discriminate between information held by a person before the end of the interim period and information that comes into a person's possession on or after the end of the interim period. It may be easier to think of these two types of information as historical information and new information, respectively.

Historical information is the information that is in a person's possession before the end of the interim period.

New information is the information that comes into a person's possession after the interim period.

 

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Water Information Definitions

Web Services

A standardized way of integrating Web-based applications employing widely used computer languages such as XML. It allows organisations to communicate without intimate knowledge of each other's IT systems behind the firewall. Web Services are being trialled in Australia for information sharing. The Australian Water Data Infrastructure Project is an example of a Web Services based architecture that is sharing water information. If you propose giving water information to the Bureau through a Web Service, please contact us on waterinfo@bom.gov.au.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a network protocol used to transfer data from one computer to another through a network, such as over the Internet.

See also File Transfer Protocol (FTP) details and data file content and naming conventions.

Time Series Data

A series of values of a variable at successive times. An example is a series of values of stream height data recorded over a time period from a particular site.

See also File Transfer Protocol (FTP) details and data file content and naming conventions.

XML

Short for Extensible Markup Language, XML is a computer language designed especially for Web documents. It allows designers to define, transmit, and interpret on-line data between organizations.

See also File Transfer Protocol (FTP) details and data file content and naming conventions.

Metadata

Data that describes how, when and by whom primary data was collected and how it is formatted.

See also File Transfer Protocol (FTP) details and data file content and naming conventions.

 

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