This discussion paper seeks the views of the public and industry sectors on the role of the private sector in the supply of water and wastewater services in Australia.

A small but growing group of well-educated urban dwellers, often in well-paying jobs, is challenging the socially sanctioned revulsion around waste by engaging in ‘skip dipping’: sorting through the contents of publicly located skips for items which are still useful. Emma Rush examines the phenomenon in this paper.

Despite not developing either a domestic nuclear power industry or a nuclear weapons capability, Australia has had a long involvement in nuclear science and technology. In this chronology Ian Holland and Matthew James outline the history of radioactive waste management in Australia, including the management of radioactive medical, scientific and industrial waste, spent nuclear fuel...

David Carment reviews the controversy surrounding the Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2005, which gives the federal government the power to override the opposition of the NT Labor government and the NT Liberal Party as well as relevant Aboriginal heritage legislation and the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Carment argues that opposition to the...

Stewart Smith provides an overview of desalination plants and technology from around the world, including case studies, in the context of current NSW government policy. He also compares and contrasts two approaches to water recycling.