Secure long-term water supply for urban, rural, environmental and cultural users by developing a national approach to water security, including independent national ownership.
- Community priorities
- Economic benefits
- Productive cities
- Liveable cities
- Regionalised Australia
Key messages
A national water security framework will provide a single, authoritative definition of what water security is and how to assess Australia’s position. The national water security framework should form the basis of national, regional, state and territory infrastructure planning and growth strategies.
To adapt to an unpredictable future, Australia must now enter a new phase of water efficiency driven by water-literate communities. With climate change likely to shift rainfall patterns, relying so heavily on water sources that depend on climate no longer makes sense.
Australia cannot afford to limit access to alternative sources that will allow a diversified water supply portfolio. Governments must remove outdated barriers that prevent the use of all water supply options. This should be supported by greater collaboration and resource sharing to improve asset management across the sector.
What are the impacts?
A consistent approach to measuring water security risk will significantly improve governance of Australia’s water resources. It will support transparent and reliable decision-making that addresses the needs of local communities.
Stronger planning processes enabled by water security information will support better health and environmental outcomes, with reduced frequency and intensity of water shortages enhancing community sustainability and unlocking social benefits.
Implementing a consistent approach to assessing water needs and measuring water security risk will help ensure regional, remote and rural communities have comparable levels of quality and access to services.
Prioritising water investments based on more accurate assessment of water security risk will help to improve the reliability of services that support economic productivity for both communities and businesses. In the long-term, this can improve affordability by reducing expenditure on reactive activities and improving efficiency.
How easy is it to implement?
Although the benefits are significant, complete implementation of a consistent water security approach may take up to 15 years. Government and industry are already starting to work towards this and will continue to improve capacity through collaboration.
Data collection, legislative amendment and policy reform will be complex and time-consuming. In the medium-term, these activities will increase regulatory costs, but they will lead to more efficient management of water resources and better investment in infrastructure, which will reduce costs to water users over the long-term.
How certain are the outcomes?
Community acceptance of alternative drinking water sources such as recycled water has not been well-managed in the past. Governments have been reluctant to re-engage communities in that discussion. However, the benefits of engaging the community in this reform are clear, with improved community acceptance from public education initiatives.
There is robust evidence of improved water security outcomes from this reform, which gives confidence that the benefits can be delivered.
Explaining the need for change to the community will therefore be critical, and will give governments more control over managing these risks and improving water security for all users.
| Social |
Water Security Framework
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| Quality |
Maintenance and asset management
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| Affordability |
Affordable, climate-independent water
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Read more about this recommendation in 6.1 Securing our water future in the 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan.
Reform implementation pathway
This recommendation comprises of outcomes and activities, which form the reform's implementation pathway.
The implementation pathway is designed to guide change agents on the supporting activities necessary to achieve the overall reform.
For each outcome and activity, we propose change agents to act as:
- Proposed sponsor: facilitate, coordinate and champion the recommendation
- Proposed lead: deliver specific activities or lead related outcomes
- Support: share ownership, contributions or knowledge to enable the reform process.
Achieve a common approach to water security planning by developing a new National Water Initiative incorporating a national water security framework. A national water security framework must include an agreed definition of ‘water security’ within a whole-of-system context and provide an approach to assessing risks and opportunities.
5-10 years
Ensure a consistent national approach to water security by developing and committing to a renewed National Water Initiative that incorporates a National Water Security Framework.
0-5 years
Ensure long-term water security challenges and risks are understood and opportunities identified on a nationally consistent basis by developing a national water security framework. A national water security framework must include:
- a definition of ‘water security’ within a whole-of-system context (including urban and rural systems), with reference to safety, quality and quantity and for meeting users’ needs over time on an economic, environmental, social (including cultural) and governance basis.
- a method to measure the water security of a place or catchment over time and incorporate best available demographic, scientific and economic data. This method should also be capable of identifying water deficits or surpluses.
0-5 years
Improve the reliability of water accounting within the total system by maintaining registers of all water entitlements and allocations aligned to the renewed National Water Initiative. Mineral and petroleum industries should also be incorporated within entitlement and planning arrangements under a renewed National Water Initiative.
0-5 years
Meet the needs of water users into the future and ensure long-term water security objectives are considered in strategic decision-making. This includes:
- incorporating the national water security framework into business case development for state, territory and nationally significant water infrastructure proposals.
- incorporating the national water security framework into existing national infrastructure investment assessment frameworks, including the Infrastructure Australia Assessment Framework and the National Water Grid Investment Framework.
5-10 years
Ensure ongoing commitment and application of the national water security framework by assigning independent ownership of the National Water Initiative, including the National Water Security Framework.
0-5 years
Normalise water-efficient practices and decisions by increasing water literacy in communities and businesses.
0-5 years
Champion water-wise behaviours and increase water literacy. This includes water-wise campaigning and voluntary reporting of water use in business processes.
0-5 years
Support community and businesses to embed a water-wise culture. This includes ongoing public education to improve water literacy and rebates on water-efficient products. Regulatory bodies must implement pricing structures that signal the full value of water and an economic water conservation method backed by community engagement.
0-5 years
Increase transparency of water consumption and dependency (water footprint) by disclosing meaningful water data in environment, social and governance (ESG) reporting.
0-5 years
Meet users' long-term water needs by ensuring that all options be fully evaluated in infrastructure planning.
5-10 years
Strengthen resilience of water supply infrastructure and meet outcomes for users’ long-terms needs by:
- removing policies that unnecessarily restrict water supply options, including bans that prevent suitably treated wastewater or stormwater from augmenting potable water supplies, and bans that prevent the urban use of rural water
- removing mandates, targets and subsidies for the use of certain types of water, including recycled water
- removing regulatory barriers that discourage recycled water investments
- ensuring that water infrastructure planning decisions consider all options for expanding water supply fully and transparently. This includes determining the optimal mix of water supply options with consideration given to the national water security framework.
0-5 years
Ensure water infrastructure decisions meet users' long-term needs through removing community perception barriers to the use of alternative water sources, particularly recycled water for drinking, by:
- publicising a position of support for alternative water sources, especially recycled water for drinking
- running public education and engagement campaigns on the benefits and risks of recycled water for drinking, including how water travels through the water cycle. Public education campaigning must be based on recognised positive messaging and avoid language or images that might cause stigma or negative reactions
- partnering with influential community representatives or businesses to champion the use of recycled water for drinking.
5-10 years
Improve the long-term reliability of water infrastructure to meet future needs and expectations by advancing whole-of-life asset management and preventative maintenance.
0-5 years
Support maturity for water service providers in asset management and long-term planning by coordinating a national centre of excellence for resource sharing, and coordination of partnerships.
0-5 years
Coordinate asset management planning and support progression towards whole-of-life asset management in regional water utilities by facilitating regional partnerships or alliances (collaborative arrangements). Collaborative arrangements must support members to achieve predictive asset management plans through addressing skill shortages, sharing resources and improving data collection.
0-5 years