Frequently asked questions

The NSW Government remains committed to full implementation of the recommendations from the Matthews report, including the principle of ‘no meter, no pump.’

While there is overwhelming support for non-urban metering, compliance rates are not where they should be. Most larger water users have accurate, tamper-proof meters in place. However, thousands of medium and smaller water users have not.

The review is looking at what is and is not working and how we can maintain momentum and speed up progress.

With dry conditions predicted in the coming months, effective measurement and metering of water take is vital. This will ensure our precious resource is being used fairly and sustainably and those doing the wrong thing are held to account.

Five years have passed since the metering rules were first introduced and a review was always planned at this time to assess the progress made.

The rollout has been slower than anticipated and the review is looking at why and what can be done to tackle these problems and get the program back on track.

Southern inland water users were given extra time to install non-urban metering equipment following widespread flooding in 2022. The NSW Government was always planning to review the rules five years after they were introduced to assess progress.

The review is looking at what is and is not working and how we can improve the rules to accelerate implementation.

The consultation paper provides an overview of what we understand to be the most significant barriers to implementing the rules and describes potential options to address the key issues.

Feedback received during the consultation indicated support for many of the options included in the consultation paper, and we received additional suggestions for government consideration.

Your views are directly informing the recommended actions to help make it easier for water users to become compliant and to ensure water use is being measured and managed fairly and sustainably.

While the review is underway, there will be no change to the regulations and compliance expectations that are currently in place. The Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) will continue to take a fair and measured approach to enforcing the rules.

While around 90% of large surface water pumps greater than 500mm have accurate meters installed on active works, many of the remaining works that don’t comply do not yet have telemetry.

The second stage of the rollout covering northern inland water users has only a 25% compliance rate for active works capable of taking water.

On the current trajectory, it is estimated that it could take another 10 years to achieve full compliance with the metering reforms.

There are valid reasons why some water users have been slow to comply. These include difficulties accessing the right people to install new meters, confusion about the rules, disruptions to supply chains, the cost of equipment and severe flooding.

The public consultation period will allow us to better understand these difficulties and the best way to address them.

There are a range of options that are being considered to respond to what we understand to be the key barriers to the metering reform.

Key issues highlighted throughout the consultation include the cost of compliance, addressing the availability of qualified installers, more flexibility in how small water users can comply, and simpler requirements so the rules are easier to understand. Your feedback is informing more detailed analysis so we can determine the necessary steps to move forward.

You can read the what we heard report and the consultation paper on our website.

All feedback received through the survey and the information sessions is being evaluated. Your views are directly informing the review report for the Minister for Water.

The public consultation period was open from 30 October to 26 November 2023 and has now closed.