Water Act 1989

The Water Act 1989, provides the legal framework for managing Victoria’s water resources. The main purposes of the Act, is to promote the equitable and efficient use of water resources, ensure water resources are conserved and properly managed for the benefit of all Victorians, and increase community involvement in conserving and managing water resources.  

Water for Victoria

Water for Victoria, is a Plan for a future with less water as Victoria responds to the impact of climate change and a growing population.

The actions set out in the Plan support a healthy environment, a prosperous economy with growing agricultural production and thriving communities.

Some of the key actions relevant to the RCS are:

• Embedding climate change considerations in all operational decisions (Action 2.2)
• Investing in Integrated Catchment Management (Action 3.3)
• Providing long-term investment to improve waterway health (Action 3.4)
• Managing waterways for shared benefits – social, cultural, economic and environmental (Action 3.6)
• Supporting community partnerships and citizen science (Action 3.8)
• Improving the recording of progress and how the information is reported back to communities, implementing the new Rivers 2040 framework (Action 3.9)
• Dealing with the impacts of population growth, including resilient, cities and towns (Action 5.6)
• Recognising and managing for Aboriginal values:
  • Action 6.1 – recognise Aboriginal values and objectives of water
  • Action 6.2 – considering Aboriginal values in water planning and management
  • Action 6.3 – support Aboriginal access to water for economic development
  • Action 6.4 – build capacity to increase Aboriginal participation in water management.

Victorian Waterway Management Strategy

The  Victorian Waterway Management Strategy, provides the framework for government, in partnership with the community, to maintain or improve the condition of rivers, estuaries and wetlands so they can continue to provide environmental, social, cultural and economic values for all Victorians. The Victorian Waterway Management Strategy is currently being renewed.

Integrated Water Management Framework for Victoria

The Integrated Water Management (IWM) Framework for Victoria, is designed to help regional stakeholders to work together, ensuring the water cycle contributes to the liveability of towns and cities in Victoria, with communities at the centre of decision making.

To facilitate this, IWM forums have been established across the state to identify, prioritise and oversee the implementation of critical collaborative opportunities. These are led by water authorities and for the Gippsland region, this incorporates South Gippsland Water and Gippsland Water.

The Gippsland Strategic Directions Statement 2018, identifies 15 IWM flagship opportunities across the region.

Environment Protection Act 2017

The Environment Protection Act 2017, (as amended by the Environment Protection Amendment Act 2018) provides the legislative framework for the protection of human health and the environment from pollution and waste. The Act retains an Environmental Reference Standard as a core element of this framework.

State Environment Protection Policy (Waters)

The Victorian Government declared a new State Environment Protection Policy (Waters) on Tuesday 23 October 2018. The new SEPP (Waters) was developed to ensure that Victoria has a contemporary statutory policy for the protection and management of surface water and groundwater in Victoria.

From 1 July 2021, the Environment Protection Act 2017 as amended (the Act) replaces the Environment Protection Act 1970. It establishes the new framework for environmental protection. It is underpinned by the general environmental duty (GED) and duties for waste, contaminated land and incident notification and management.

The Act is designed with a different mix of subordinate instruments and regulatory tools to support and work with the Act. This framework focuses on the prevention of waste and the impacts of pollution, rather than managing those impacts after they have occurred.

SEPP (Waters) will not continue as a subordinate instrument under the Act, and its formal statutory role ended on 1 July 2021, except in some limited circumstances.

Much of the content of SEPP (Waters) has been replaced by the Act, its Regulations and the Environment Reference Standard (ERS), or through new guidance published by EPA.