IPART has set the maximum prices that the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation (WAMC) can charge customers for water planning, management and regulation services. The prices we set in this review will apply from for 4 years from 1 October 2025 until 30 June 2029 or until replaced.
We have published our Final Report
We have released our Final Report on WAMC’s maximum prices from 1 October 2025 to 30 June 2029.
Under our maximum prices, increases in WAMC’s water management charges would be limited to an annualised average of 5% per year, or 21.6% in total, over the four years to 2028-29 (before inflation).
For customers paying the Minimum Annual Charge (MAC), the increase in WAMC’s water management component would be limited to an annualised average of 2.5% per year, or 10.4% in total, over the four years to 2028-29 (before inflation).
As we deferred the introduction of new WAMC prices by 3 months (i.e. from 1 July 2025 to 1 October 2025), the water management component of a typical bill will increase by 7.5% and the MAC by 3.9% on 1 October 2025. This means that typical bills over the full 2025-26 year will be equivalent to what they would have been if new WAMC prices had been introduced on 1 July 2025.
MDBA charges will be set at full cost recovery levels. BRC charges will be set at full cost recovery levels in regulated and unregulated water sources and will transition towards full cost recovery levels in groundwater sources at 5% per year before inflation.
We will also continue to apply water take charges to floodplain harvesting licences and introduce an additional water management charge for floodplain harvesting to help recover WaterNSW’s incremental costs associated with floodplain harvesting.
Additionally, we have revised the structure and level of metering charges to reflect our assessment of efficient costs. These metering charges apply to licence holders in regulated river, unregulated river and groundwater sources.
In reaching our decisions, we considered all feedback received from stakeholders at our Public Hearing, and through submissions to our Issues Paper and our Draft Report. We also considered our legislative responsibilities and had regard to the matters in section 15(1) of the IPART Act.
We thank all stakeholders for their input
We thank all stakeholders for their time and effort throughout this review to provide us with their views on WAMC’s prices. We have considered all feedback in making our final decisions and recommendations.