Faculty of Law

The Australian law of terrestrial water resources has been undergoing major reform in the past 15 years through the implementation of national water policy agreements by the Council of Australian Governments (CoAG).

In Western Australia, the first round of reforms in the 1990s created a suite of legislation governing the water industry.

In 2005, the State Government began a new round of water law reform, proposing a new Act for managing water resources.

Associate Professor Alex Gardner and some of the guest contributors have been advising on the drafting of the proposed Bill.

The objectives of this workshop are to:

• explain the main legal principles of water resources law
• ascertain the legal effect of the CoAG-driven water law reforms
• familiarise registrants with the principal legal and policy materials.

The workshop is valuable for lawyers and other professionals working with water resources law in the business and government sectors. Because of the nature of the workshop, there is a limit on the number of participants.

Associate Professor Gardner will lead the discussion in collaboration with water industry experts:

• Nicola Rivers, Senior Legal Officer, Department of Water (WA)
• Katie Winterbourne, Special Counsel, Blake Dawson
• Patrick Seares, Program Manager, Water Allocation Planning, Department of Water (WA)
• Megan Dyson, Water Law and Policy Consultant, Adelaide
• Rod Hughes, General Manager, Swan River Trust
• Greg Watkinson, Director References and Research, Economic Regulation Authority of WA
• Michael Bennett, Research Officer to the Greens Members of the Legislative Council.