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The department is responsible for the stewardship of Victoria’s scarce water resources, which it achieves, in part, through the oversight and management of Victorian water entitlements and water markets.

Victorian Water Register

The Victorian Water Register (VWR) is a critical enabler of this stewardship and the water sector more broadly, providing a public register of all water-related entitlements in Victoria. Its purpose is to record water entitlements with integrity and provide the information required to manage Victoria’s water resources effectively.

The VWR 10-year strategy identifies partners and beneficiaries of the Victorian Water Register as its key stakeholders.

Each stakeholder group that uses and interacts with the Victorian Water Register performs different roles in water markets and have varying needs and expectations. These needs and expectations are evolving over time due to changes in water markets, such as the need to adapt to external factors such as population growth and climate change.

Stakeholders’ expectations of the Victorian Water Register are likely to increase in times of water scarcity. During such times, stakeholders will be particularly watchful for errors or omissions and will need their water applications dealt with efficiently. This means the ongoing availability and integrity of the Victorian Water Register is essential.

Ongoing operation of the Victorian Water Register

The ongoing operation of the Victorian Water Register includes business-critical water accounting. State water accountants are delegated the Minister’s legislative responsibilities to issue water allocation against entitlements in accordance with the respective resource managers’ seasonal determinations, and apply carryover rules for unused water allocation and licence volumes.

This initiative funded the following:

  1. Designing and building a new platform to deliver reliable, secure and user-friendly Victorian Water Register services. This is the scope of the Victorian Water Register Transform project.
  2. Maintain ongoing operation of the current Victorian Water Register to deliver action 9.4 of Water for Victoria while new Victorian Water Register services are built and rolled out, including water accounting functions.

This initiative aimed to deliver 3 key benefits:

  1. A more cost-effective and reliable Victorian Water Register.
  2. New online and user-friendly services.
  3. Enablement of more efficient and effective water markets.

In addition to the funding provided through EC5 for this initiative, a further $6.34 million in co-contribution was provided from the Victorian Water Register Trust.

Environmental contribution 5 (EC5)

Sustaining a resilient and secure water register for Victoria

  • 2020–21 expenditure: $3,909,000
  • 2021–22 expenditure: $4,280,000
  • 2022–23 expenditure: $11,640,000
  • 2023–24 expenditure: $16,090,000

Victorian Water Register Transform Project

DEECA onboarded a new Implementation Partner (IP) for the Victorian Water Register in July 2022. This enabled the Transform project to commence its discovery stage. Following the discovery stage, the project delivery stage commenced in December 2022.

During the period December 2022 to July 2023 slippage in provision of deliverables triggered a review of the project. The review forecast higher than anticipated increase in costs to complete the project. The review also identified an alternative approach to delivering Victorians a new secure and reliable Victorian Water Register.

A new project and governance structure (the Evolve Project) has been established to continue delivery of a new Victorian Water Register that aligns with  the Victorian Government’s 2024-25 budget outcomes.

Evolve Project – VWR Uplift

The key activity of the Evolve project is to transition the current Victorian Water Register onto a modern technology platform, delivering the Victorian community secure and reliable Victorian Water Register services.

Operating and supporting the Victorian Water Register

In partnership with the VWR Support Partner, the department continues to operate and support the Victorian Water Register. This enables customers and users to apply for licenses, change ownership of water shares and allocations, and manage their water usage.

Seasonal determinations

All seasonal determinations have been completed in the Victorian Water Register within target deadlines – within 3 hours of public announcements, an improvement on previous years – providing earlier access to water allocation for the public.

EOY processes completed

The 2023-24 EOY process was completed on 30 June 2024, with all accounts opened with correct carryover balances, allowing the water register to open at midnight on 1 July 2024.

Page last updated: 28/10/24