About the water market reforms
Reforms are in progress for water markets in the Murray–Darling Basin. These are enabled by legislation changes. Key aspects of the reforms include:
Water markets decisions reporting
New water markets decisions obligations apply from 1 July 2026 in line with the Water Amendment (Water Markets Decisions) Regulations 2026.
Find out about providing water markets data.
Water markets information obligations
New water markets information obligations apply from 1 July 2027, in line with the:
New standards and systems
The Water Markets Data Standards 2026 aim to improve the transparency, consistency and availability of water markets information. Learn more about the new standards.
Organisations required to report information use a new system to do this. Find out about the Water Data Hub.
Information about water markets decisions is now available from a Water markets data webpage. From 1 July 2027, this will expand to include detailed pre-trade and trade information.
Legislation changes
The Australian Government enacted the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023 on 7 December 2023. It strengthens the Water Act 2007.
The changes aim to deliver the conduct, integrity, and transparency recommendations from the Water market reform: final roadmap. This document and background about the water market reforms are available on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) website.
The legislation:
- expands the Bureau's water information role
- gives the Bureau new functions and powers as custodian of information about water markets in the Murray–Darling Basin. These powers allow us to collect water markets information and share it for compliance purposes.
Learn more about legislation and compliance.
Engagement and consultations
We are working closely with the:
- DCCEEW
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
- Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC)
- stakeholders affected by the new water markets data reporting requirements in the Murray–Darling Basin.
For details of past engagement and consultations, view the Water data guidelines and standards page.