Drinking water
Legislation & regulations
Page content: Safe Drinking Water Act | Other Legislation | Safe Drinking Water Regulations | Reference and consultation documents
Safe Drinking Water Act 2003
The Victorian Government passed new legislation, the Safe Drinking Water Act, in June 2003. The first of its kind in Australia, the Act places obligations on water suppliers to provide safe, good quality drinking water. The new Act commenced on July 1 2004.
The Safe Drinking Water Act provides a regulatory framework for drinking water quality that includes:
- a risk management framework from “catchment to tap”,
- a set of standards for key water quality criteria,
- information disclosure requirements for water businesses,
- systemic community consultation processes.
The Act is applicable to a range of designated water businesses (water suppliers and water storage managers) and other statutory authorities that supply drinking water to the public, including Parks Victoria and alpine resort management boards. The Unit will support, and work with these organisations and other key stakeholders to ensure that the Act is implemented uniformly across the whole of Victoria.
The legislation is concerned principally with the regulation of the quality of drinking water supplies. The regulation of price in relation to drinking water is the responsibility of the Essential Services Commission.
The Safe Drinking Water Act 2003 can be downloaded from the Victorian Government Parliamentary web site. Printed copies of Acts are also available for purchase from Information Victoria.
Other Legislation
Other legislation relevant to drinking water supply and Legislation such as the Food Act 1984 and the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994, are also available from the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents web site.
Safe Drinking Water Regulations
The Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2005 were made on 19 July 2005 by the
Governor in Council under Section 56 of the Safe Drinking Water Act 2003,
and came into operation on 19 July 2005.
The Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2005 can be downloaded from the Victorian
Government Parliamentary website.
Copies of Acts are also available for purchase from Information
Victoria.
Reference & consultation documents
The following documents were developed or used during the development of
the Safe Drinking Water regulatory framework.
 Landmark
Safe Drinking Water Legislation for Victoria (71kb, pdf)
A
New Regulatory Framework for Drinking Water Quality in Victoria - Consultation
Paper (961kb, pdf)
Proposed
Standards for Drinking Water Quality in Victoria (172kb, pdf)
Industry
Draft of the Safe Drinking Water Regulations: Consultation History, Analysis
of Submissions and New Cost Estimates (185kb, pdf)
Safe
Drinking Water Regulations for Victoria workshop (236kb, pdf)
General
Gazette Number 27 Dated 7 July 2005 (467kb, pdf)
Also available from the Website
of the Victoria Government Gazette
Regulatory Impact Statement for the Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2004 (231kb, pdf)
Safe
Drinking Water Regulations, Analysis of submissions, May 2005 (489kb, pdf)
Safe Drinking Water Regulations - public consultation
period (October 2004) - submissions received
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