Internationally, privately-owned water systems have resulted in higher bills, largely because of rising interest costs, debt and dividend payouts. This report, commissioned by the Australian Services Union NSW & ACT, analyses the fiscal, economic and public health effects of privatising Sydney Water.

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia advocates for policy reform across all of Australia’s infrastructure. This report sets out an ambitious reform agenda to transform infrastructure service delivery in remote communities across water, energy and telecommunications.

The Water Services Association of Australia initiated this review of remote water services to elevate the issues in the national conversation, and to recommend ways to close the gap in the delivery of safe drinking water, including water quality and water security.

Ecosystem services are the benefits that society obtains from ecosystems, such as food, clean water and air. This review investigates the health benefits provided by 3 ecosystem services - air filtration, local climate regulation and recreation. The review found ecosystem services provide many benefits to...

This project investigated the role of science in the policy-making process in order to deepen understanding of the science-policy interface and the ways in which the scientific basis underpinning policy might be strengthened to better support good environmental decision-making.

In 2021, WSAA commissioned Eric Vanweydeveld to review remote water services in Australia, and to recommend ways to close the gap in the delivery of safe drinking water, including water quality and water security. This report outlines the preliminary findings.

This report summarises drinking-water compliance for the 485 registered New Zealand networked drinking-water supplies that served populations of more than 100 people in the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

This report summarises drinking-water compliance for the 486 registered networked drinking-water supplies that served populations of more than 100 people in the compliance period from 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020.

This draft strategy aims to ensure the Victorian Essential Services Commission’s work supports access to essential services for consumers experiencing vulnerability.

In February 2021, Dunedin City Council (DCC) advised citizens that water should not be consumed due to high levels of lead concentrations. This independent review into the health system response to this incident has found that the sector focused on reducing the risk to the...

The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (NSW) is the lead agency for water resource policy, regulation and planning in the state. This audit examined whether the department has effectively supported the planning for and funding of town water infrastructure in regional NSW.

This inquiry concerns the National Water Initiative (NWI) — a 2004 intergovernmental agreement between the Australian government and all State and Territory governments. It is the Productivity Commission’s second national water reform inquiry, with the first undertaken in 2017.

The urban water sector in Australia is facing major challenges over the coming decades. This paper examines the policy and implementation frameworks currently governing the urban water sector to identify where there may be impediments to the adoption of Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM).

This analysis of data on climate finance, water access and climate vulnerability shows that half of countries receive less than AUD$8 per person per year in climate finance for mitigation and adaptation combined. Some of the most vulnerable countries receive significantly less.

This paper argues that new sources of financing are needed in order to provide clean water and sanitation for citizens around the world. The challenge is particularly acute in cities where population growth and urbanization are stretching resources and deteriorating living conditions.

Climate change has made Perth's winters drier and summers hotter and, combined with urban and population growth, has dramatically affected Perth's water resources. This plan sets targets to respond to the major impacts of climate change on water resources and liveability to support the 3.5...

This report explores how scarce public resources can be used most effectively to achieve universal delivery of water supply and sanitation services. It analyzes the prevalence and performance of subsidies in the sector, then guides policymakers on improving subsidy design and implementation to improve their...

This report shows how poor water quality stalls economic progress, stymies human potential, and reduces food production. The report calls for a paradigm shift that emphasizes safer, and often more cost-effective remedies that prevent pollution by combining smarter policies with newer technologies.

This paper explores what cities can do to ensure more equitable access to safe, reliable and affordable water, while facing down major trends affecting water access, including population growth, degraded and depleted water sources, and climate change.

This document sets out proposals stop the degradation of waterways and restore them to a healthy state. It seeks feedback on a new National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, National Environmental Standards for Freshwater, Sources of Drinking Water, and Wastewater, and regulations under Section 360...

This study examines the political economy of rural water supply in Ethiopia, using a literature review and interviews with government staff and water sector stakeholders to unpick systemic obstacles to sustainable access to water.

This report critically examines the evidence related to the occurrence of microplastics in the water cycle (including both tap and bottled drinking-water and its sources), the potential health impacts from microplastic exposure and the removal of microplastics during wastewater and drinking-water treatment.

This report reveals the countries where the most people live with physical water scarcity, how ballooning customer demands jeopardise water access for the poorest and most marginalised people, and how making thoughtful choices as consumers can help ensure access to water for basic needs is...

This policy brief draws upon the expertise of RMIT’s Water: Effective Technologies and Tools (WETT) Research Centre to inform policy makers and the wider community on critical challenges in planning for Victoria’s future water use.

This report continues to build a picture of looming potential costs as the government seeks to ensure safe drinking water, and better environmental performance of the country’s wastewater infrastructure.