List of Recommendations

Recommendation 1

2.99

The committee recommends that the Commonwealth and basin states clarify how existing state water sharing plans and operations interact with the Water Resource Plans and related processes that have been introduced by the Basin Plan.

Recommendation 2

2.100

The committee recommends that the Commonwealth and basin states, through the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council, create, maintain and make easily accessible a detailed, comprehensive, clearly set-out and collectively-owned roadmap of the Murray-Darling basin's governance framework which clarifies decision-making and accountability between levels of governments and agencies for each aspect of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Recommendation 3

2.102

The committee recommends that the Commonwealth and basin states, through the Ministerial Council, provide an update on the implementation of the outstanding Productivity Commission's 2018 recommendations for the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, and articulate reasons for delays.

Recommendation 4

2.107

The committee recommends that the bill not be passed.

Recommendation 5

4.103

The committee recommends that the Australian Government work with basin states to commission an independent basin-wide audit of the processes and systems underlying water accounts to identify whether the accounts currently enable a holistic view of the reality of water in the Murray-Darling basin.

Recommendation 6

5.124

The committee recommends that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the Office of the Inspector-General for Water Compliance, work with Murray-Darling basin states to develop best-practice principles to better align, where practical and appropriate, the compliance and enforcement approaches of governments, such as terminology, reporting requirements of regulators, and penalties.

Recommendation 7

5.130

The committee recommends that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the Inspector-General of Water Compliance, work with basin states to clarify the division of compliance roles and responsibilities between Commonwealth and state governments and their agencies, and the Inspector-General’s role in resolving multijurisdictional issues. Where there is duplication, uncertainty, or absence of compliance responsibility between governments, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the Inspector-General should work with states to address this.

Recommendation 8

6.59

The committee recommends that the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office work with state counterparts to build a roadmap that provides public clarification on the interactions between Commonwealth and state environmental watering agencies, particularly clarification on how environmental watering planning documents interact at different government levels.

Recommendation 9

6.60

The committee recommends that the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office work with state counterparts and use the roadmap from the previous recommendation to address any duplications or inefficiencies between Commonwealth and state environmental watering plans.

Recommendation 10

6.63

The committee recommends that the Commonwealth Environmental Water Office (CEWO) review its communication practices for whether the standard for public updates could be improved. The CEWO’s communications should provide concise and timely public information on the objectives and reasons behind each environmental watering decision before the event occurs, public updates during watering events, and identify whether objectives were met after each environmental watering event.

Recommendation 11

6.66

The committee recommends that the Australian Government work with state counterparts to review existing evaluation mechanisms for Basin Plan environmental watering decisions and identify whether the decisions of environmental water holders, and the measurable ecological outcomes framework against which these decisions are evaluated, could be made more accessible.

Recommendation 12

7.70

The committee recommends that the Australian Government work with basin states to adopt a best-practice, principles-based approach to communicating and disseminating information to all key stakeholders, including Indigenous communities in the basin.

Recommendation 13

7.71

The committee recommends that the Commonwealth and basin states work to improve representation of all impacted stakeholders in the development of Water Resource Plans (WRPs), including by:

identifying and implementing best-practice approaches to WRP development, communication, and engagement;

ensuring that sufficient information about WRPs is made available to all stakeholders in advance of engagement and include 'plain English' and culturally appropriate versions to expand their uptake; and

ensuring that all state-based Basin Plan and WRP coordination committees provide adequate opportunities to enable the timely and authentic engagement with Indigenous communities and their leaders.

Recommendation 14

7.77

The committee recommends that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority continue to build capacity and expertise through communication with Indigenous leaders and their communities throughout the basin to ensure basin states are complying with and prioritising their Indigenous commitments.

Recommendation 15

7.79

The committee recommends that the Australian Government extend the life of the Murray-Darling Basin Indigenous River Ranger Program for a period of 10 years to ensure a long-term approach is taken to monitoring the effects of the implementation of the Basin Plan.

Recommendation 16

8.55

The committee recommends that the Commonwealth work with MurrayDarling basin states, through the Ministerial Council, to develop best-practice community consultation guidelines for Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism (SDLAM) projects, and clarify processes and responsibilities for ensuring that standards of consultation are appropriately applied.

Recommendation 17

9.59

The committee recommends that the Australian Government work with the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and Murray-Darling basin states to review whether current research initiatives across governments and the private sector provide a coordinated, whole-of-basin, and long-term approach to overcoming current and future major water-related challenges in the basin.

Recommendation 18

9.60

The committee recommends that the Australian Government investigate investing in innovative measurement tools and infrastructure to enhance water conservation capacity in the basin.

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