Water is essential to the survival of the planet but it is a limited global resource. Therefore, how we manage it is of critical importance. Australian water law and regulation has been innovative in recent years with the market being employed as a key tool of sharing water scarcity and abundance. The Australian experience has been carefully monitored internationally and is often held up as a positive model. Australian reforms have involved extensive overhauls of state-based legislation and the introduction of significant Commonwealth ‘framework’ legislation. The reforms also incorporated a high level of participatory and consultative governance along with a key role for planning.

Accordingly the course considers a range of legal issues. They include: significant constitutional issues (will state or federal law prevail?); property law issues (is a water access licence property?); commercial law issues (how is the market to be regulated and how do international trade treaties impact on domestic law?); human rights issues (how is the human right to water to be reconciled with the market and trading?); environmental law issues (are the desired sustainability outcomes being achieved by the present legal and regulatory framework?) ; Indigenous law issues (how is Indigenous access to water to operate in the light of more general restrictions of access to water?). Although the course will focus mainly on New South Wales and Commonwealth legislation it will also include international comparative material from which lessons may be learnt. It is a very topical course and is very relevant to those with an interest in ecological sustainability.

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The objective of this course is to provide students with a basic knowledge and understanding of both the substantive and policy aspects of Water Law. The course examines the basic objectives and principles underlying water management and includes an examination and critique of their effectiveness.