The department held an Industry Briefing session in November to outline a new tender seeking the services of water market intermediaries to assist with future water recovery in the Namoi and NSW Border Rivers catchments.
The briefing provided an overview of the tender and procurement process, explained how to participate, and offered an opportunity to ask questions.
The tender is open from 12 November to 10 December 2025.
A recording of the briefing session, along with the transcript, is available for anyone who was unable to attend.
Hosted by: Francis Horacek, Assistant Director, Water Recovery Branch
Transcript
Francis HORACEK 2:01
Slide 1:
Thank you for your time today to attend this industry briefing relating to the approach to market issued by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water for water intermediary services. My name is Francis Horacek and I'm part of the Bridging the Gap Water recovery team. Also attending is Racheline Jackson who is the manager of this team. Racheline was the one who just volunteered earlier to sing for us. This industry briefing is to review the approach to market information, which was released on AusTender last Wednesday, the 12th of November. The ATM outlines the Department's requirements for water market intermediary services under the Bridging the Gap Water Recovery program.
Slide 2:
Before starting, I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connections to the rivers, creeks and waterways and we pay our respects to their elders, past and present.
Slide 3:
Just some housekeeping before we move on. This session is being recorded so the presentation can be made available to people who are unable to attend today. The recording will be posted on the Department's website and a link will be included in an addendum to the Frequently Asked Questions document and published on AusTender. This will happen in the coming days. The question and answer part of this industry briefing will be recorded but will not be published. This is just for our own internal records so we can refer back if needed. If you'd like to ask a question, please use the chat function and we'll address it at the end of the briefing.
Slide 4:
Under the Commonwealth Government probity guidelines, we are required to conduct a process which is fair to all parties who are considering submitting a tender response. That's why we are recording and making available this Industry Briefing so that it can be reviewed by interested parties who are unable to attend today. This is to ensure a fair and equitable process and that all parties have access to the same information and no party can gain an advantage over others. If we cannot answer a question today with information that is contained in the ATM documentation, we will consider updating the Frequently Asked Questions document for publication on AusTender so that this information is available to everyone. Please make sure you register on AusTender for this tender so that if we publish any updated information you will receive an e-mail advising you of this.
Slide 5:
Access to the approach to market is via the Government's AusTender website. AusTender is the Government's online procurement system, where details of tenders are posted and where tenderers submit their responses. The page on the left is the landing page for our tender ATM_2025_5577 Bridging the Gap Water Market Intermediaries Approach to Market. To gain access to the ATM documentation you will need to create an AusTender login. This will enable you to see the ATM documentation which is the screen on the right. The ATM documentation is made-up of the Approach to Market document, Industry Briefing details and Frequently Asked Questions document. On the right screen you can also see this is where you lodge your response via the "Lodgement Page" button.
Slide 6:
As background to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan - the Australian Government is working to improve the management of the Murray-Darling Basin to secure a healthy and sustainable river for future generations. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan has been developed to ensure there is enough water in the rivers for the environment while providing a sustainable water supply for communities and agriculture. The Basin Plan sets limits on the volume of water that can be extracted from rivers and aquifers, and these limits are referred to as Sustainable Diversion Limits, or SDLS.
Slide 7:
Where there is water still to be recovered in a system to meet Basin Plan SDL requirements, we refer to this water recovery as Bridging the Gap to Sustainable Diversion Limits. Strategic water purchasing or targeted water purchasing is directed to where the Government still needs to bridge the gap to meet Sustainable Diversion Limits. To keep communities and the water market informed about the Government's Bridging the Gap plans, the Department published the Strategic Water Purchasing Framework in 2023 and have since published 2 updates to this framework. The latest was the Trading Strategy Addendum 2025-26, which was published on the 1st of October this year. This tender or Approach to Market is to contract water market intermediaries who will assist with water purchases to Bridge the Gap in the Namoi and NSW Border Rivers in 2026. The Trading Strategy Addendum 2025-26, notes that purchasing for these catchments would commence between January and April 2026 and also flagged the likely use of water market intermediaries.
Slide 8:
The department has conducted several open tenders seeking offers to sell water to the Commonwealth under the Bridging the Gap program. This usually involves staff from the Department travelling around the catchment, conducting information sessions about the tender. This is followed up with local radio and newspaper ads to further promote the tender. For probity reasons the Department cannot approach individual sellers to promote these tenders. The use of intermediaries is a more proactive approach and is consistent with the role played by intermediaries identifying and connecting buyers and sellers to facilitate a sale. Engaging intermediaries allows for a more flexible and responsive approach than a traditional open tender process. By selecting intermediaries with demonstrated expertise in their nominated catchments, the Commonwealth will be utilising their local water market knowledge with the expectation that intermediaries will actively promote the Commonwealth's Bridging the Gap Water Recovery Program.
Slide 9:
Now I'll speak about some of the specifics of this Approach to Market. This Approach to Market is to contract the services of intermediaries to help the Commonwealth with the purchase of water entitlements under the Bridging the Gap Water Recovery Program in the Namoi and NSW Border Rivers. Depending on the responses received, the department expects to appoint at least one intermediary for each catchment, but more than one may be selected. Anyone wishing to sell water to the Commonwealth will be required to do so through one of the intermediaries contracted by the department. The department will publish on our website who the contracted intermediaries are for each catchment. There are some requirements regarding who is eligible to submit a response for this tender and these are outlined in the ATM as Conditions for Participation. An eligible water market intermediary is defined in the Water Act, and intermediaries will be required to comply with the requirements for the Water Market Intermediaries Code, which I'll speak more about in a later slide.
Slide 10
Intermediaries will be expected to promote the Commonwealth as a buyer of permanent water entitlements and identify potential sellers in the Namoi and NSW Border Rivers for the Bridging the Gap Water Recovery program. Details of the Commonwealth's purchase of water in these catchments will be set out in the Approach to Market documents under a separate water purchase tender, which is scheduled for early 2026. A sample water purchase agreement, which is the contract between the seller and the Commonwealth, will also be provided. The intermediary should ensure the seller understands the terms and conditions of the Commonwealth's water purchase under the Bridging the Gap Water Recovery Program. If an intermediary wants to develop any marketing material referencing the Bridging the Gap Water Recovery Program, they must get approval from the Department prior to its use. Other documentation provided by the Department will include a Frequently Asked Questions document and other declaration and acknowledgement forms associated with the application to sell water. To submit an offer on behalf of the seller, the intermediary will complete an application including the appropriate declaration and acknowledgement forms, and a copy of the water entitlement. The exact process will be specified as part of the separate water purchasing tender in early 2026. Where an application has missing or incomplete information, the intermediary is expected to rectify this with the seller.
Slide 11
The Commonwealth is not expecting to deal directly with the seller regarding their application. The intermediary will work with the Commonwealth and the seller to ideally progress offers to the point where contracts are exchanged between the seller and the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth will manage the contracting process - including settlement payment and registration - using its conveyancing legal service provider. Intermediaries will not hold water on behalf of the Commonwealth. Typically, the Commonwealth's conveyancing legal service provider will arrange for water to be transferred from the seller's entitlement directly to the Commonwealth's entitlement. Similarly, the Commonwealth's payment for the water entitlement will typically go directly to the seller, subject to disbursement instructions and payment of any fees and charges. Settlement payment instructions are agreed through the conveyancing process. On confirmation of the exchange of contracts, the intermediary can invoice the Commonwealth for the service fee set out in the intermediary's contract with the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth and the intermediary can agree on an appropriate invoice process and time frame for invoicing. Note that the Commonwealth will be responsible for determining if offers represent value for money using established principles. Intermediaries will be required to liaise between sellers and the Department if the Department chooses to negotiate an offer.
Slide 12:
Conflicts of interest. Successful intermediaries will be required to advise potential sellers that they have been engaged by the Commonwealth under the Bridging the Gap Water Recovery Program. The intermediary does not need to disclose the details of the agreement, but for disclosure and for consideration of conflict of interest by the potential seller, they must be advised. Similarly, where the intermediary has entered into a commercial relationship with a potential seller regarding the sale of water to the Commonwealth, or the intermediary has an existing relationship with the seller that could give rise to a conflict of interest, the intermediary must disclose this to the Commonwealth. The detail of these relationships or details of the conflict of interest do not need to be disclosed to the Commonwealth, just that a conflict exists. This is an ongoing obligation should circumstances change and there is need to identify a conflict of interest in the future. Should a tenderer be providing intermediary services to another Commonwealth water purchase program, this must be disclosed in the Tenderer's response, along with details of how this conflict will be managed. That is, what are the management strategies the intermediary will deploy for the separation of purchasing activities between the programs.
Slide 13:
If you are selected as an intermediary to act for the Commonwealth, you can continue with your existing business dealings with the seller or enter into a new agreement with them. But in either situation you are required to disclose this conflict of interest to the Commonwealth when appropriate. Such conflicts of interest only arise when you submit an offer from the seller to the Commonwealth. At this point it should be disclosed to the Commonwealth if you have a conflict of interest relating to dealings with the seller. And just as a reminder, you are required to disclose to the seller that you have been engaged by the Commonwealth to identify potential sellers and to help facilitate the purchase of water.
Slide 14:
Water market intermediaries are people who provide services such as trading water rights on behalf of clients or investigating trading possibilities for water rights. And they may be water brokers, irrigation infrastructure operators, legal professionals or real estate agents. The ACCC, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, website says the water markets intermediary code is a mandatory code. Responsibilities in the code came into effect in two phases. Phase one took effect on the 1st of July 2025 and phase two on the 1st of October 2025. The purpose of the code is to regulate how eligible water market intermediaries conduct themselves with current and proposed clients. It aims to:
- Improve the integrity of, and trust in, water market intermediaries.
- Give greater protection and confidence to users of these intermediary services
- Increase participation in relevant water markets, and
- Apply the same types of regulatory safeguards to water market intermediaries that apply to intermediaries in other markets.
