Freedom of Information

GMW is a statutory Corporation constituted by Ministerial Order under the provisions of the Water Act 1989 (the Act). An Independent Board of Directors (the Board) governs GMW. The Board operates under part 6 of the Act and reports annually to the Minister for Water and the Treasurer.

We are ultimately accountable to the Minister for Water and have functions and powers under the Act to provide, manage and operate an irrigation district (pursuant to section 221 of the Act), a water district (pursuant to section 163 of the Act) and a waterway management district (pursuant to section 189 of the Act).

We are Australia’s largest rural water corporation and manage Australia’s largest irrigation delivery network. 

GMW manages water related services in a region of 68,000 square kilometres, bordered by the Great Dividing Range in the south and the River Murray in the north, stretching from Corryong in the east down river to Nyah. We have more than 23,000 customers ,manage 23 water storages and also have responsibility for managing more than 100,000 hectares of public land surrounding those storages.

GMW is the northern Victorian Resource Manager appointed by the Minister for Water and is responsible for making the seasonal determination for all northern Victorian declared water systems. and is a partner in the Victorian Water Register which manages more than $7 billion of water entitlements and over $300 million in water share and allocation trade for Victoria.

We are Victoria’s largest inland boating authority and manage boating and recreational activities across the majority of our storages. In addition, we service and supply a diverse range of urban Water Authorities, Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) and the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).

The non-prescribed management portfolio includes houseboat licences, caravan park leases and clubs.

You can also review the following pages which provide further information about our functions:

• Board and Management
• Delivering for a thriving northern Victoria
• Goulburn-Murray Water Region Map
• About GMW

GMW creates and stores a broad range of electronic and hard copy documents.

Document types

The types of documents that we have in our possession include:

• policies, procedures and standards;
• briefings and reports;
• correspondence;
• meeting minutes and records;
• financial records;
• training and education material;
• employee records;
• operational records;
• images and videos;
• contracts; and
• registers.

Document categories

Documents are organised under the following categories:

• Administrative;
• Business planning;
• Training and education;
• Financial management;
• Human resources;
• Legal;
• Policy; and
• Operational.

The  Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) (FOI Act) provides you with the right to request access to documents held by GMW. The object of the FOI Act is to extend as far as possible the right of the community to access information in the possession of the Government and other bodies constituted under the law of Victoria.

Before you make a request for access

You are encouraged to check if the information or document you are seeking is already publicly available such as in our annual report, policies and procedures, or other resources available on our website.

Where you cannot find the information or document you are seeking, we encourage you to contact us and ask if the information or document you are seeking is available or can be provided to you. 

Making a request for access

You can make formal request for access by emailing  foi@gmwater.com.au or by sending a request to:

Freedom of Information Officer
Goulburn-Murray Water
PO Box 165
TATURA  VIC  3616

A request must be made in writing, and clearly describe the information or document you are seeking access to. If we cannot clearly identify the information or documents you are requesting, we will contact you to clarify your request.

Processing your request

Once we understand what information or document you are seeking, we will process your request and provide you with a decision as soon as possible but no later than 30 days after the date of your request. Note that we may extend the 30 day period by up to an additional 15 days if consultation with third parties is required.  

GMW produces a number of publications which can be accessed and downloaded from our website.

You can search all our resources which includes reports, Corporate Plans, Water Plans, Customer Charter, Statements of Obligations, policies and other tools.

If you need assistance finding a publication please contact us on 1800 013 357.

We have a range of policies and procedures that govern our daily operations and support the functions of GMW. These include:

• Asset Management Policy
• Business Continuity Policy
• Complaint Handling Policy
• Compliance Policy
• Customer Support Policy
• Dam Safety Management Policy
• Diversity Policy , opens in a new window
• Drone Usage Policy
• Engagement and Media Policy
• Environment Policy
• Family Violence policy
• Fraud Prevention Policy
• Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy
• Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy
• Information Management Policy
• Information Security Policy
• Information, Communications and Technology Policy
• Media Policy
• People Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Procurement Policy
• Project Management Policy
• Protected Disclosure Policy
• Risk Management Policy
• Seasonal Determination Policy
• Social Media Policy
• Training and Development Policy
• Treasury Policy
• Water Trading Policy

GMW publishes an annual report each year. These reports can be viewed and downloaded at our Annual Reports page.