Water business operating licences help ensure these essential service providers are meeting the needs of all NSW households. The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal’s (IPART) review of Hunter Water’s Operating Licence plays a crucial role in updating the needs and interests of the Lower Hunter community, and setting out how Hunter Water should be ensuring people have equitable and affordable access to safe, dependable and sustainable water services.
That’s why our response to IPART’s Hunter Water 2022-2027 operating licence review Issues paper broadly supports IPART aligning Hunter Water’s new operating licence with the recently updated Sydney Water operating licence and provides additional recommendations, including that:
- Tenants have comparable protections to homeowners in the provision of an essential service;
- First Nations perspectives are sought out and integrated into the provision of an essential service;
- protections for victim-survivors of family and domestic violence are improved in the access to an essential service, and;
- climate requirements are strengthened and embedded across all business activities.
What’s next?
A Discussion Paper will be issued as the next part of this process, with an updated customer contract to follow in November 2026. We will engage in detail on the drafting of the customer contract and work to ensure that the final licence reflects the community values and perspective Hunter Water received through its engagement with the Hunter Community.
