In Victoria new regulations are in place which enable water corporations, including Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) to fine water users for water theft and other offences, by issuing penalty infringement notices (PINs).
These are in place as part of Victoria’s Zero Tolerance to Unauthorised Take of Non-Urban Water, which supports equity of access to our limited water resources. Ensuring that everyone complies with the Water Act 1989 (Act) and adheres to the terms of their water entitlements protects those who are doing the right thing.
Water theft affects everyone in your community and it is important that individual water users do not adversely impact other users or Victoria’s environmental values.
From January 2022, GMW may issue a PIN to anyone who has committed a water infringement offence.
What is a Penalty Infringement Notice?
A PIN can be issued to an individual or body corporate who has committed a water infringement offence.
The Water (Infringements) Regulations 2020 set gradual penalties which increase with the amount of water taken and the nature of the offence. The maximum penalty for an individual is $2,219 and $11,095 for a body corporate.
What offences are subject to a PIN?
A PIN is issued to penalise and deter water users from committing certain breaches of the Act.
Under the Act and Water (Infringements) Regulations 2020, a PIN can be issued for the following water infringement offences, where the unauthorised take of water is up to 10 megalitres:
- taking water without a water share in a declared system
- taking or using water without a take and use licence from a non-declared system
- wrongful take of water, interfering with flow of water in any waterway, aquifer or works without any authorisation
- breaching conditions of a take and use licence; and
- breaching conditions of a works licence.
Who has the power to issue a pin?
Under the Act, rural water corporations – such as GMW – are responsible for the compliance and enforcement of rules and legislative requirements surrounding the take and use of water and construction of works.
An Authorised Water Officer (AWO), appointed by the water authority under Section 291A of the Act, has the power to issue a PIN to a water user whom the officer has reason to believe has committed a water infringement offence (Section 295A of the Act).
Victoria’s compliance and enforcement approach
We will proactively monitor customer account balances, identifying even small volumes of water theft and enabling a swift compliance and enforcement response.
If a potential breach has been detected, we will work with the water user to rectify the problem and prevent future non-compliance.
This may involve a phone call and/or an official first and final warning letter.
We may also decide to restrict the user’s access to water by locking down their meter or pump.
If the water user does not bring their account balance back into compliance, we may issue them with a PIN.
If the water user has committed multiple offences, we may decide to issue multiple PINs.
A PIN will be issued within 12 months after the day on which the water infringement offence occurred.
Your options if you receive a PIN
We will issue PINs to water users via the mail. If you receive a PIN, it will include information about the offence; the amount owed and how it can be paid; and the fine due date.
Information on how to pay and to assess eligibility for payment arrangements can be obtained viewed on the Fines Victoria website.
If you fail to pay by the specified due date, Fines Victoria will issue reminder notices and additional costs may be applied.
If you ignore reminders the matter will become more serious.
Water users also have the option to request a review of the PIN. If you would like to request an internal review, please visit www.fines.vic.gov.au.
Value of the PIN
The maximum penalty for an individual is $2,219 and $11,095 for a body corporate.
Penalties are up to five times higher for body corporates than for individuals.
The value of a PIN is calculated by multiplying the value of one penalty unit by the number of penalty units set for the committed offence.
The value of a penalty unit can be viewed on the Department of Justice website.
Victoria’s Water (Infringement) Regulations 2020 set gradual penalties, which increase with the amount of water taken and the nature of the office.
More information
Information explaining Victoria’s compliance and enforcement approach can be found at the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning website
More information for GMW customers can be found at our Water Use Compliance webpage.