Latest Updates

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Early childhood education and care review update

Our Interim Report will be published on 20 October 2023.

Registrations are now open to join our online public hearing on Monday 30 October 2023 from 10:30am to 1pm to give feedback on the Interim Report draft findings and draft recommendations.

You will also be able to provide feedback via our survey or make a submission in response by 17 November.

Register now
Deborah Cope
Tribunal Member Deborah Cope to Retire

Chair Carmel Donnelly PSM announced earlier this year that Tribunal member Deborah Cope will retire in October.

"I would like to thank her for her service to NSW as a Tribunal member and pay tribute to her significant contribution," said Ms Donnelly.

Learn more
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Independent Market Monitoring Review

We've published a paper setting out how we propose to undertake our market monitoring review of the childcare sector market.

We welcome your feedback specifically on the measures and performance indicators proposed in our methodology paper.

You can do this by making a submission by 3 October 2023.

Have Your Say
Aerial photograph of a Dam in New South Wales
WaterNSW Operating Licence review

We have released an Issues Paper and are seeking feedback on potential changes to the WaterNSW Operating Licence.

Stakeholders, including WaterNSW customers who use their services are invited to make comment on the issues we have identified and anything else that matters to them.

Issues Paper

Below we present key information on our draft decisions for Water NSW’s rural bulk water services for customers in the Hunter valley. This information is not exhaustive and should be viewed in conjunction with our Draft Report and Draft Determination.

Draft decision on costs for the Hunter valley

Under our draft decisions, Water NSW’s costs are higher than those used to set prices for the 2017 Determination. The customer share of:

  • operating expenditure for Hunter valley has increased by 50.7% but is 10.4% lower than proposed by Water NSW
  • capital expenditure for Hunter valley has increased by 57.9% and is 24.6% higher than proposed by Water NSW.

Offsetting these increases, the cost of capital has decreased from 4.7% to 2.8%.

Draft decision on customer share of revenue requirement for Hunter valley over 2021 Determination

Notes: Data has been rounded to the nearest percentage - total may not sum to 100% due to rounding. UOM is the pay-back of "unders and overs mechanism" balance from the 2014-17 regulatory period.
Data source: IPART analysis.

What drives the change in costs for Hunter valley since the 2017 determination period?

Data source: IPART analysis.

Draft decision on prices for the Hunter valley

We have set prices for Water NSW that recover its full efficient costs of providing its bulk water services (net of any Government contributions). The table below sets out our draft decision on Water NSW’s prices, as well as prices that would recover Water NSW’s proposed costs on a 4 year full cost recovery (FCR) basis.

Draft decision on bulk water charges – Hunter valley ($/ML, $2021-22)

Current 2020-21 ($2020-21) 4 year FCR Proposed Draft Report Change current to proposed Change current to Draft Report Draft Report to proposed
High security $14.15 $20.41 $19.02 44.2% 34.4% -6.8%
General security $10.98 $15.85 $14.78 44.4% 34.6% -6.8%
Usage $13.60 $19.94 $18.58 46.6% 36.6% -6.8%

Indicative bills under our draft decisions for the Hunter valley

The table below shows indicative bills for 2021-22 under our draft decisions, as well as indicative bills that would arise from Water NSW’s proposed prices (based on full cost recovery over 4 years).

Indicative annual bulk water bills for Hunter valley ($2021-22)

Estimated entitlements (ML) Estimated usage (% of entitlement) Current 2020-21 ($2020-21) 4 year FCR Proposed Draft Report Change current to proposed Change current to Draft Report Draft Report to proposed
High Security
Small user 5 100% $139 $202 $188 45.4% 35.5% -6.8%
Medium user 30 100% $833 $1,211 $1,128 45.4% 35.5% -6.8%
Large user 200 100% $5,550 $8,070 $7,520 45.4% 35.5% -6.8%
General Security
Small user 20 50% $356 $516 $481 45.2% 35.4% -6.8%
Medium user 80 50% $1,422 $2,066 $1,926 45.2% 35.4% -6.8%
Large user 300 50% $5,334 $7,746 $7,221 45.2% 35.4% -6.8%

Source: Water NSW proposal and IPART analysis.

The indicative bills shown below represent indicative bills combining Water NSW’s prices for its bulk water services and the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation’s (WAMC’s) prices for its water management services.

High security bills for Hunter valley (medium user)

Note: We used actual entitlement numbers and allocations data in defining “small", "medium" and "large" users. We note this differs to the approach we used for our Issues Paper valley-specific information. See our WAMC Draft Report for further information on WAMC bills.
Data source: Water NSW proposal and IPART analysis.

General security bills for Hunter valley (medium user)

Note: We used actual entitlement numbers and allocations data in defining “small", "medium" and "large" users. We note this differs to the approach we used for our Issues Paper valley-specific information. See our WAMC Draft Report for further information on WAMC bills.
Data source: Water NSW proposal and IPART analysis.

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Water NSW’s proposed costs, prices and indicative bills as presented in our Issues Paper released in September 2020