Water Act 1989

The Governor in Council may make regulations for or with respect to—

prescribing standards for houseboats (expressed in terms of performance, types of material, methods of construction or otherwise) in relation to—

sewerage and water supply; and

services, installations and ancillary equipment, including those for the provision of water supply services, for sanitary purposes and for sewerage; and

prescribing fees that may differ according to the class or nature of the application, licence, permit, registration, variation, renewal, transfer or assignment; and

prescribing the form and manner in which the water register is to be established and maintained, including, but not limited to, the establishment, maintenance and alteration of the system of the water register; and

prescribing fees for—

making recordings in the part of the water register for which the Registrar or the Minister is responsible; or

searching for or obtaining information or records in the part of the water register for which the Registrar or the Minister is responsible; or

any other matters related to the water register in relation to water shares; or

any other matters in relation to the water register, including, but not limited to, services provided by the Registrar or the Minister as a recording body under Part 5A; and

prescribing, in respect of the water register—

persons or classes of person who may search for or obtain information or records in the water register; and

information or records or classes of information or records which may be searched or obtained by those persons; and

information or records or classes of information or records which are not available to the public; and

regulating places at which water may be taken and times and rates at which water may be taken; and

prescribing matters, in addition to those set out in section 33G, that the Minister must determine when issuing a water share; and

the management, protection and use of all lands, waterways and works under the management and control of an Authority; and

the control, management and use of environmental areas and recreational areas under the control and management of an Authority, including but not limited to—

the control, management and use of the land, services and facilities in the area, including fees for the provision or use of any such services or facilities or for entry to land on which such services or facilities are situated; and

the protection of the land, services and facilities; and

the protection of people in the area from injury or nuisance; and

setting aside areas in which activities may be permitted, restricted or prohibited; and

the conservation and preservation of flora, fauna and habitat in the area; and

the control of the introduction of any new flora or fauna to the area; and

the control of the numbers of any flora or fauna in the area; and

the granting of leases or licences for environmental areas and recreational areas, and in particular as to the following matters—

the Authority that may grant any such lease or licence, which must be the Authority that has the management and control of the area and that has a proprietary interest in the area;

the purposes for which any such lease or licence may be granted, which must be for activities carried on in, or things introduced into, the area; and

the charging of fees for leases or licences over environmental areas and recreational areas; and

the powers of the Authority in relation to the removal of any unregistered or abandoned motor vehicle from an environmental area or a recreational area and its subsequent sale, including provisions about—

notice of removal; and

surrender of the motor vehicle to its owner or an agent of the owner; and

sale of the motor vehicle; and

the circumstances in which clear title to the motor vehicle passes on sale; and

disposal of the proceeds of sale; and

protection of the Authority from liability in relation to payments of the proceeds of sale; and

any other necessary or convenient matter; and

sanitary drainage plans held by a water corporation, including—

the lodging of plans of sanitary drains as they appear after they have been installed or altered; and

specifying the details that the plans must contain; and

the providing of the copies of the plans; and

prescribing standards for any saline or other matter (whether in liquid form or not) that may be discharged—

into works under the control of a water corporation; or

into any waterway; or

onto any place from which it may enter into—

any works under the control of a water corporation; or

any waterway; or

any aquifer; or

any bore; and

prescribing ways of measuring the supply, delivery, taking or using of water by meter or other measuring device, including ways of calculating water use by reading a meter after the ending of a billing period; and

prescribing ways of determining the quantity of water supplied or delivered to land, used on land or taken to land, other than by a meter or other measuring device; and

prohibiting any act which would cause wastage of water; and

regulating or prohibiting any activity—

that is carried out within 40 metres of works or waterways forming part of the water supply system of a water corporation; and

that may affect the system; and

prohibiting people who are not entitled to water supply from using water from the works of a water corporation; and

regulating or prohibiting the access to or use of land and works under the management and control of a water corporation; and

regulating the use of water for fire-fighting purposes; and

regulating or prohibiting the discharge of any trade waste into the sewers of a water corporation; and

prescribing the terms and conditions to be included in agreements for the receipt and disposal of trade waste by a water corporation, including the grounds on which a water corporation may disconnect the service; and

prescribing any waste as trade waste for the purposes of this Act; and

prescribing the information to be provided to a water corporation by any person whose trade waste the water corporation agrees to receive; and

the resolution of disputes under or in connection with a trade waste agreement or a proposed trade waste agreement; and

regulating works or apparatus that are part of any private works; and

requiring—

the regular maintenance and cleaning of those works or apparatus; and

the payment of a fee for any maintenance or cleaning of those works or apparatus that is carried out by or on behalf of a water corporation; and

prohibiting septic tank discharge within an area in respect of which a water corporation has functions without the consent of the water corporation; and

prescribing conditions to which levee maintenance permits are subject; and

imposing penalties for contraventions of the regulations; and

prescribing offences to be water infringement offences, including that a water infringement offence applies or does not apply—

at times, on days, in circumstances or at places specified in the regulations; and

to a person or to a class of person specified in the regulations; and

prescribing infringement penalties for water infringement offences, including prescribing different infringement penalties for water infringement offences consisting of different conduct, facts things or circumstances; and

any other matter or thing required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed or necessary to be prescribed to give effect to this Act.

Regulations fixing fees under subsection (1)(ad), Part 3A or Part 4B may provide for the waiver, in whole or in part of the fees.

A power conferred under this Act to make regulations fixing fees may be exercised by fixing one fee for two or more matters in respect of which fees are required to be paid under this Act.

A power conferred by this Act to make regulations may be exercised—

either in relation to all cases to which the power extends, or in relation to all those cases subject to specified exceptions, or in relation to any specified case or class of case; and

so as to make, as respects the cases in relation to which the power is exercised—

the same provision for all cases in relation to which the power is exercised, or different provisions for different cases or classes of case, or different provisions for the same case or class of case for different purposes; or

any such provision either unconditionally or subject to any specified condition.

Regulations made under this Act may be made—

so as to apply—

at all times or at a specified time; or

throughout the whole of the State or in a specified part of the State; or

as specified in both subparagraphs (i) and (ii); and

so as to require a matter affected by the regulations to be—

in accordance with a specified standard or specified requirement; or

approved by or to the satisfaction of a specified person or a specified class of persons; or

as specified in both subparagraphs (i) and (ii); and

so as to apply, adopt or incorporate any matter contained in any document, code, standard, rule, specification or method formulated, issued, prescribed or published by any person whether—

wholly or partially or as amended by the regulations; or

as formulated, issued, prescribed or published at the time the regulations are made or at any time before then; or

as formulated, issued, prescribed or published from time to time; and

so as to confer a discretionary authority or impose a duty on a specified person or a specified class of persons; and

so as to provide in a specified case or class of case for the exemption of persons or things or a class of persons or things from any of the provisions of the regulations, whether unconditionally or on specified conditions and either wholly or to such an extent as is specified; and

so as to impose a penalty for a contravention of the regulations not exceeding 20 penalty units, for an individual, or 100 penalty units, for a body corporate; and

so as to impose an infringement penalty for a contravention of the regulations not exceeding 12 penalty units, for an individual, or 60 penalty units, for a body corporate.

If under subsection (3)(c)(iii) a regulation has applied, adopted or incorporated any matter contained in any document, code, standard, rule, specification or method as formulated, issued, prescribed or published from time to time and that document, code, standard, rule, specification or method is at any time amended, the document, code, standard, rule, specification or method is for the purpose of the regulation to be taken to have not been so amended until notice of the amendment is published in the Government Gazette.

If a regulation made under this Act is inconsistent with a by-law made by an Authority, the regulation prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

Regulations made under this Act may be disallowed in whole or in part by resolution of either House of Parliament.