IPART final WAMC report and price determination 2025
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of NSW (IPART) has released its final report and determination of prices for water planning and management services delivered by the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation (WAMC).
IPART sets the prices for services provided by the WAMC for a 4-year determination period.
Prices will apply from 1 October 2025 until 30 June 2029.
Setting fees and charges
Water management services
IPART determines the maximum prices that water licence holders pay for water planning, management and compliance services provided by the WAMC. The department, the Natural Resources Access Regulator and WaterNSW deliver these services on behalf of WAMC.
WAMC manages the state's freshwater resources by developing and implementing policies and plans for sharing water between water users and the environment, administering water licences and allocations, and ensuring compliance with water laws and licences. These services are essential to ensure water can be made available to water users and the environment on a timely and sustainable basis.
The costs of managing freshwater resources in NSW are recovered partly through WAMC’s water management charges and other fees that IPART determines and are partly paid by the NSW Government on behalf of taxpayers.
Three types of fees and charges are levied for WAMC services in NSW:
- Water management charges recover part of the cost of water management services
- Consent transaction fees recover part of the cost of processing your applications
- Metering and water take assessment charges recover part of the cost of determining and recording your water usage. IPART has commenced its periodic review of WAMC water management prices.
A breakdown of how the revenue from WAMC charges is allocated across WAMC services under IPART’s current price determination can be found at 2023-24 IPART pricing breakdown - WaterNSW.
IPART Review of WAMC water management prices
WAMC agencies submitted a pricing proposal to IPART setting out services, costs and pricing changes proposed for the next determination period.
To view the proposal, visit the IPART website.
IPART conducted an independent, public review of the proposal to determine the prices that WAMC can charge. To help inform this decision, IPART sought feedback from WAMC customers, stakeholders and the public on its draft decisions on WAMC costs and prices.
Our engagement with customers and community on WAMC services and prices
WAMC agencies conducted extensive customer, community, and stakeholder engagement from early 2023 to early 2024 to inform the pricing proposal. We also considered what we heard through all our engagement on water planning and management activities since 2021. The WAMC Engagement Charter sets out our approach to engagement, in conjunction with engagement strategies of each WAMC agency. The Engagement Outcomes Report summarises the feedback we heard during this process and how it is reflected in our pricing proposal.
Two-part tariff
The water management charges for your unregulated river or groundwater licence can be billed under a 1 or 2-part tariff. This billing structure might act as an incentive for customers to have their water take metered or assessed.
If you are billed under the one-part tariff, the entitlement charge is applied to your licence volumetric ML entitlement or unit shares.
Under the 2-part tariff your water take is metered or assessed, and you are billed for:
- lower entitlement charge (than under the 1-part tariff) applied to your licence volumetric ML entitlement or unit shares
- water take charge applied to your ML of usage
- water take reading/assessments charge or a meter service charge (if your meter is a corporation meter).
Regulated river licence holders are all required to meter their water usage and are billed under the 2-part tariff.
WaterNSW issues water bills in rural and regional areas of NSW.
For more information about charges go to Water management charges
Application for the 2-part tariff
To apply for the 2-part tariff visit WaterNSW and complete and return the application form to WaterNSW. A determination will be made, and you will be advised in writing if your application was approved.
If your application is successful:
- You might not be able to revert to a 1-part tariff (contact WaterNSW for further information)
- The 2-part tariff will be charged from 1 July of the year following the year of your application. This is to ensure
that the full year water usage is metered or assessed.
Having your water take assessed
Metering your water take is the best way to determine how much water you used during the billing period and provide WaterNSW with evidence of your water use. Metering your water take will also provide you with accurate, real-time information you can use to improve your water efficiency and achieve cost savings. Contact WaterNSW for more information.
Your water licence bill
The bill for your water access licence is issued by WaterNSW. For further information about your water bill and how charges are applied visit WaterNSW
Reports to IPART
View the latest reports on certain output measures and performance indicators set for WAMC by IPART.