Water Industry Act 2012

This Act may be cited as the Water Industry Act 2012.

This Act will come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

Sections 18 and 26 must be brought into operation on the same day.

The objects of this Act are—

to promote planning associated with the availability of water within the State to respond to demand within the community; and

to promote efficiency, competition and innovation in the water industry; and

to provide mechanisms for the transparent setting of prices within the water industry and to facilitate pricing structures that reflect the true value of services provided by participants in that industry; and

to provide for and enforce proper standards of reliability and quality in connection with the water industry, including in relation to technical standards for water and sewerage infrastructure and installations and plumbing; and

to protect the interests of consumers of water and sewerage services; and

to promote measures to ensure that water is managed wisely;

and

to promote the economically efficient use and operation of, and investment in, significant infrastructure so as to promote effective competition in upstream and downstream markets.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

adjacent land, in relation to other land, means land that abuts on the other land;

authorised officer means a person appointed under Part 8 as an authorised officer;

Commission means the Essential Services

Commission established under the Essential

Services Commission Act 2002;

condition includes a limitation or restriction;

connection point means—

the point at which a customer's pipes connect with any water infrastructure or sewerage infrastructure; or

in any prescribed circumstances—such other point as may be prescribed by the regulations;

consumer means a person supplied with retail services as a consumer or user of those services;

contravention includes a failure to comply;

council means a council within the meaning of the Local Government

Act 1999;

customer means a person who owns land in relation to which a retail service is provided and includes—

where the context requires, a person seeking the provision of a retail service; and

in prescribed circumstances—a person supplied with retail services as a consumer or user of those services (without limiting the application of this definition to owners of land); and

a person of a class declared by the regulations to be customers;

designated customers—see subsections (2) and (3);

draining work means the installation, alteration, repair, maintenance or disconnection of sanitary drains;

drains—a drain may include a pressurised system for the removal of sewage;

equipment includes—

pipes, fittings and apparatus; and

any component of any equipment;

Health Department means the administrative unit of the Public Service that is, under a Minister, responsible for the administration of the South Australian

Public Health Act 2011;

industry ombudsman scheme means the scheme applying for the purposes of section 25(1)(h);

infrastructure includes—

pipes, conduits and associated fittings and apparatus;

pumping stations;

storage tanks;

bores and wells;

dams, reservoirs and wetlands;

embankments, walls, channels, drains, drainage holes or other forms of works or earthworks;

treatment facilities;

testing or monitoring equipment;

roads and other works to provide for the movement of vehicles or equipment or to provide access to land, works or other forms of infrastructure;

bridges and culverts;

buildings and structures;

components of any infrastructure;

other items brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

land includes—

an estate or interest in land (including an easement);

or

a right or power over or in respect of land;

Minister's Department means the administrative unit of the Public Service that is, under the Minister, responsible for the administration of this Act;

occupier of land or a place means a person who has, or is entitled to, lawful possession or control of the land or place;

owner of land means—

if land is unalienated Crown land—the Crown;

or

if the land is alienated from the Crown by grant in fee simple—the owner of the estate in fee simple; or

if the land is held from the Crown by lease or licence—the lessee or licensee, and includes an occupier of the land;

plumbing means—

water plumbing work, sanitary plumbing work or draining work on the customer's side of any connection point; or

any other work brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

retail service means a service constituted by—

the sale and supply of water to a person for use (and not for resale other than in prescribed circumstances (if any)) where the water is to be conveyed by a reticulated system; or

the sale and supply of sewerage services for the removal of sewage, (even if the service is not actually used) but does not include any service, or any service of a class, excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

River Murray has the same meaning as in the

River Murray

Act 2003;

road means a street, road or thoroughfare to which public access is available on a continuous or substantially continuous basis by the use of vehicles or as pedestrians or both and includes—

a bridge, viaduct or subway; or

an alley, laneway or walkway;

sanitary drain means pipes and equipment to collect and convey sewage from a sanitary plumbing installation to an on‑site treatment facility or a sewerage or effluent disposal system;

sanitary plumbing work means the installation, alteration, repair, maintenance or disconnection of pipes or equipment to receive and convey sewage to sanitary drains (including associated plumbing ventilation equipment);

SA Water means South Australian Water

Corporation established under the South Australian Water Corporation

Act 1994;

sewage includes any form of waste that may be appropriately removed or dealt with through the use of a sewerage service;

sewerage infrastructure means—

any infrastructure that is, or is to be, used for—

the collection or storage of sewage and includes the connection point; or

the conveyance or reticulation of sewage; or

the treatment of sewage, including any outfall pipe or other work that stores or conveys water leaving infrastructure used for the treatment of sewage; or

any other infrastructure used in connection with sewage and brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations, but does not include—

any pipe, fitting or apparatus that is situated upstream of a customer's connection point; or

infrastructure situated entirely within one site and not connected to any other infrastructure situated within another site; or

any other infrastructure used in connection with sewage that is excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

sewerage service means—

a service constituted by the collection, storage, treatment or conveyance of sewage through the use of a reticulated system; or

any other service, or any service of a class, brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

site means an area of land constituting a single land holding;

stormwater drain means pipes and equipment to collect and convey stormwater to a public stormwater disposal system;

Technical Regulator means the person holding the office of Technical Regulator under

Part 3;

Tribunal means the South Australian Civil and

Administrative Tribunal established under the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal

Act 2013;

water includes rainwater, stormwater, desalinated water, recycled water and water that may include any material or impurities, but does not include sewage;

water industry means any operations associated with the provision of water services or sewerage services;

water industry entity means—

a person licensed under

Part 4; or

a person recognised by the Minister under subsection (4) as a water industry entity for the purposes of this Act, and includes (where the context requires) a person who has been licensed under Part 4 whose licence has been suspended or cancelled or has expired or a person who is to be treated as a water industry entity under the regulations;

water industry officer means a person appointed under Part 5 as a water industry officer;

water infrastructure means—

any infrastructure that is, or is to be, used for—

the collection or storage of water, including a dam or reservoir, a water production plant or a wetland; or

the treatment of water; or

the conveyance or reticulation of water and includes the connection point; or

any other infrastructure used in connection with water and brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations, but does not include—

any pipe, fitting or apparatus that is situated downstream of a customer's connection point; or

any pipe, fitting or apparatus that is situated upstream of a customer's connection point to a stormwater drain; or

infrastructure situated entirely within one site and not connected to any other infrastructure situated within another site; or

any other infrastructure used in connection with water that is excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

water plumbing work means the installation, alteration, repair, maintenance or disconnection of pipes or equipment (including water heaters) to be connected directly or indirectly to a water supply system;

water service means—

a service constituted by the collection, storage, production, treatment, conveyance, reticulation or supply of water; or

any other service, or any service of a class, brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations;

water/sewerage infrastructure means water infrastructure or sewerage infrastructure (or both).

A reference in this Act to designated customers, or designated classes of customers (or customers of a designated class), is a reference to customers, or classes of customers, designated by the Minister by notice in the

Gazette.

The Minister may—

in acting under subsection (2), make different designations with respect to different sections of this Act;

by further notice in the Gazette, vary or revoke a previous notice under subsection (2).

The Minister may, for the purposes of the definition of

water industry entity, by notice in the

Gazette—

recognise a person within the water industry as a water industry entity for the purposes of this Act, or specified provisions of this

Act;

vary or revoke the recognition of a particular person under paragraph (a).

For the purposes of this Act, a right to the provision of a particular service by a water industry entity may be taken to constitute the supply of a service by that entity.

Subject to this section, this Act is in addition to and does not limit or derogate from the provisions of any other

Act.

This Act does not apply to or in relation to—

an irrigation trust, or any services provided or infrastructure held by an irrigation trust, under the Irrigation Act 2009;

the Renmark Irrigation Trust, or any services provided or infrastructure held by the Renmark Irrigation Trust, under the

Renmark Irrigation Trust

Act 2009;

any other person providing irrigation services designated by the

Minister by notice in the Gazette, except to the extent prescribed by the regulations.

The Minister may, by further notice, vary or revoke a previous notice under subsection (2)(c).

This Act does not apply to any person or entity, or any circumstance, excluded from the operation of this Act by the regulations.

The Governor may, by proclamation made under this subsection, declare the extent to which Part 9A will apply in relation to—

specified water infrastructure or sewerage infrastructure, or a specified class of such infrastructure; or

specified infrastructure services, or a specified class of such services.

A proclamation under subsection (1) will have effect according to its terms (including so as to limit the operation of Part 9A or a proclamation made under that Part).

The Governor may, by proclamation, vary or revoke a proclamation under subsection (1).

Subject to subsection (5), the provisions of Part 9A are declared to be Commonwealth water legislation displacement provisions for the purposes of section 250D of the Water Act 2007 of the Commonwealth in relation to the operation of Part 4 Division 1 of that

Act.

Subsection (4) has operation if or when the

Governor, by proclamation made under this subsection, declares that that subsection takes effect as a law of the State.

The Minister must prepare and maintain a document to be called the

State Water Demand and Supply

Statement.

The State Water Demand and Supply

Statement must—

assess the state of South Australia's water resources and the extent of water supplies available within the State; and

assess current and future demand for water within the State;

and

outline policies, plans and strategies relevant to ensuring that the State's water supplies are secure and reliable and are able to sustain economic growth within the State.

The State Water Demand and Supply

Statement may—

address any other matter considered to be relevant by the Minister;

and

take into account any policy, plan or strategy determined to be relevant by the Minister.

The Minister must comprehensively review the State Water Demand and Supply Statement at least once in every 5 years.

The Minister may amend the State Water

Demand and Supply Statement at any time.

The Minister must, in relation to a proposal—

to create the State Water Demand and

Supply Statement; or

to undertake a comprehensive review of the State Water Demand and Supply

Statement, invite interested persons to make written representations on the proposal in such manner, and within a period, specified by the

Minister.

The Minister must, within 14 days after the finalisation of the State Water Demand and Supply

Statement, or the finalisation of a comprehensive review of the

State Water Demand and Supply

Statement, cause copies of the statement (or the Statement as revised) to be delivered to the President of the Legislative Council and the

Speaker of the House of Assembly.

The Minister must—

make appropriate provision for the publication of the

State Water Demand and Supply

Statement; and

ensure that copies of the State Water

Demand and Supply Statement are reasonably available for inspection (without charge) and purchase by the public at places determined by the Minister; and

ensure that notice of any amendment to the State Water Demand and Supply Statement is published in the Gazette within a reasonable time after the amendment is made.

The Minister must, on or before 31 March in each year, prepare a report that relates to the State Water

Demand and Supply Statement and that—

provides information about the water demand and supply status of the various regions of the State; and

identifies and analyses the impacts of any emerging risks or significant issues associated with the State's water supplies;

and

reports on such other matters as the Minister thinks fit.

The Minister must, immediately after the finalisation of the report under subsection (9), cause copies of the report to be delivered to the President of the Legislative Council and the Speaker of the

House of Assembly.

When the President of the Legislative Council and the Speaker of the House of Assembly receive a statement or report under this section, the

President and the Speaker must—

immediately cause the statement or report to be published;

and

lay the statement or report before their respective Houses at the earliest opportunity.

If the President of the Legislative Council or the Speaker of the

House of Assembly is absent at the time that a statement or report is delivered to the Parliament under this section, the Clerk of the relevant House will receive the statement or report on behalf of the President or the Speaker (as the case may be) (and the statement or report will then be taken to have been received by the President or the Speaker).

If a statement or report is received by the President of the

Legislative Council or the Speaker of the House of Assembly at a time when

Parliament is not sitting, the statement or report will be taken to have been published under subsection (11) at the expiration of 1 clear day after the day of receipt of the report.

A statement or report will, when published under subsection (11), be taken for the purposes of any other Act or law to be a report of the Parliament published under the authority of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly.

A statement or report under this section is an expression of policy and does not in itself affect rights or liabilities (whether of a substantive, procedural or other nature).

The Commission has (in addition to the Commission's functions and powers under the Essential Services

Commission Act 2002)—

the licensing, price regulation and other functions and powers conferred by this Act; and

any other functions and powers conferred by regulation under this

Act.

If water industry entities are required by licence condition to participate in an ombudsman scheme, the Commission must, in performing licensing functions under this Act, liaise with the ombudsman appointed under the scheme.

There is to be a Technical

Regulator.

The Technical Regulator will be appointed by the

Minister.

The office of Technical Regulator may be held in conjunction with a position in the Public Service.

The Minister may assign an employee in the Public Service to act as the Technical Regulator—

during a vacancy in the office of Technical Regulator;

or

when the Technical Regulator is absent from, or unable to discharge, official duties.

The Technical Regulator has the following functions:

to develop technical standards in connection with the water industry;

to monitor and regulate technical standards with respect to—

water and sewerage installations and associated equipment, products and materials (including on the customer's side of any connection point);

and

plumbing;

to provide advice in relation to safety or technical standards—

in the water industry to the Commission at the Commission's request; and

in the plumbing industry;

any other function assigned to the Technical Regulator under this or any other Act or conferred by regulation under this Act.

The Technical Regulator may delegate a function or power conferred on the Technical Regulator under this Act—

to a particular person or body; or

to the person for the time being occupying a particular office or position.

A function or power delegated under this section may, if the instrument of delegation so provides, be further delegated.

A delegation—

may be subject to conditions or limitations specified in the instrument of delegation; and

does not derogate from the power of the Technical Regulator to act in a matter; and

is revocable at will by the Technical Regulator.

The Technical Regulator must keep a public register of delegations under this section.

In any legal proceedings an apparently genuine certificate, purportedly given by the Technical Regulator, containing particulars of a delegation under this section, will, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be accepted as proof that the delegation was made in accordance with the particulars.

The Technical Regulator may, by written notice, require a person to give the Technical Regulator, within a time stated in the notice (which must be reasonable), the information in the person's possession that the Technical

Regulator reasonably requires for the performance of the Technical Regulator's functions (whether under this Act or any other Act).

A person required to give information under this section must provide the information within the time stated in the notice. Maximum penalty: Maximum penalty: $20 000.

A person is not required to give information under this section if the information might tend to incriminate the person of an offence.