Water Quality
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia, drafted at the close of the 19th century,
clearly intended that natural resource policy, including that relating to water and water
quality, would remain a responsibility of the States.
Indeed, one section of the Constitution specifically restricts the role of the Commonwealth
in relation to water.
The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of trade or commerce, abridge the
right of a State or of the residents therein to the reasonable use of the waters of rivers
for conservation or irrigation.
In relation to Water Quality The National Water Quality Management Strategy has been
developed by the Commonwealth, States and Territories as national initiative and framework
through developing guidelines to assist regulation of public health and the environment.
The National Water Quality Management Strategy (NWQMS) was introduced in 1992 as a response
to growing community concern about the condition of the Australia's water bodies and the
need to manage them in an environmentally sustainable manner.
The policy objective for the Strategy is "to achieve sustainable use of the nation's water
resources by protecting and enhancing their quality while maintaining economic and social
development."
The Strategy provides policies, a process for water quality management, and a set of
national guidelines that cover issues across the whole of the water cycle.
The guidelines focus on specific water resource issues and aim to help the community,
catchment managers, environment protection agencies and water authorities to develop
local action plans for water quality management.
Recently a revised set of water quality guidelines has been develped for Australia and
New Zealand ( link here).
For more information on these guidelines refer to:
also refer to the online version included on the Planet Water Webpage.