Community input to Government decisions
Community Information Sessions
Representatives from the Department will be providing information on the programs and policies of Water for the Future in regional areas across the Murray-Darling Basin.
The community information sessions aim to provide the community with an opportunity to better understand the policies and programs of Water for the Future and to raise issues of most concern to you.
- More information about the Community information sessions.
Stakeholder consultation
The Department engages with various stakeholders to get their input into planning. Stakeholder panels are one way of doing this. Panel members are chosen so that feedback can be provided from a range of different perspectives and community interests.
- The Water Recovery and Environmental Use Stakeholder Reference Panel
- National Irrigation Efficiency Stakeholder Reference Panel
- Urban Water Stakeholder Reference Panel
- The Water Efficiency Labelling Standards Scheme Stakeholder forum
Parliamentary committees
The purpose of parliamentary committees is mainly to conduct inquiries and provides reports to the Parliament to assist the decision-making by Senators and Members. An important function of committees is to scrutinise government activity, including legislation, and the conduct of public administration and policy issues.
Public input is important. Through its committees Parliament is able to be better informed of community problems and attitudes. Committees provide a public forum for the presentation of the various views of individual citizens and interest groups.
Science and decision making
The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder manages the water entitlements that the Commonwealth is currently acquiring. A panel of scientific experts has been appointed to advise on the use of environmental water.
Under Water for the Future, the Bureau of Meteorology is developing a national water monitoring and data collection network. The program includes development and maintenance of an integrated, national water information system freely accessible to the public.
CSIRO has been working on a comprehensive scientific assessment of water yield in all major water systems across the country to allow a consistent analytical framework for water policy decisions across the nation.
The Sustainable Rivers audit was created to assess river health across all the Basin's rivers in the long term. The audit is overseen by a panel of ecologists, the Independent Sustainable Rivers Audit Group.
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For up-to-date information about the Australian Government's Water for the Future plan.
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