Strategic advice

The review focuses on updating South Australia’s Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010 to better support a transition to a circular economy, enhance resource recovery, and protect the environment from waste pollution.

ATSE welcomes the Australian Government’s commitment to renew the 2004 National Water Initiative with a National Water Agreement (NWA) to modernise Australia’s water management framework.

ATSE offers recommendations to the Victorian Government for the sustainable management of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). Key points include prioritising holistic governance, ensuring property rights governance is consistent and climate-proofed while addressing cultural rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and using transparent, data-driven models to assess environmental, economic, social, and cultural impacts.

ATSE welcomes a consultation on a future National Water Agreement. We support the inclusion of themes for water quality, climate change and population growth, transparency in decision-making, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement.

ATSE supports the Interim Report’s renewal of the commitment to the National Water Reform, building on the foundations to ensure Australia’s water resources’ security amidst climate change and population growth. 

ATSE has urged a suite of actions and investments to protect the future of the Murray-Darling Basin in the face of climate change, which is threatening the river’s health and sustainability.

The National Water Initiative is an important opportunity for ensuring sustainable management of Australia’s water resources.

ATSE welcomes the interim report’s focus on undertaking water buybacks, taking climate change into account, coordinating across the various authorities, and consolidating community engagement.

The impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed. Among geographical, socioeconomic and developmental inequalities, intergenerational inequity is one of the most significant.