Submission form for the consultation on reporting of foreign beneficiaries of water access licences held by trusts

Introduction

The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is seeking your feedback on proposed changes to the Water Management (General) Regulation 2025. The proposed changes would specify when a trustee must provide information about foreign beneficiaries.

Enquiries and assistance: water.enquiries@dcceew.nsw.gov.au

Please submit this form by: 11:59 pm Tuesday, 6th October 2026.

Information on privacy and confidentiality

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We will not disclose your personal information to anybody else unless you have given your consent or we are required to do so by law. More information on how the department complies with privacy requirements can be found on our website.

Do you give permission for your name to be published with your submission?

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If you are answering on behalf of an organisation, do you give permission for your organisation’s name to be published?

YesNoNot applicable

Your details

Given name

Family name

Name of organisation (if applicable)

Phone number

Email address

Address

Which category best describes you?

Trustee of a trustBeneficiary of a trustOther (please specify)

If other, please specify:

The following sections relate to the feedback we are seeking on the proposed reporting of foreign beneficiaries of trusts that hold water access licences.

Proposed exemption for trustees who do not hold the information required to comply with s87E

The structure of some trust types will mean that some trustees will not hold information on the names, contact details and/or foreign person status of the trust beneficiaries.

The proposed exemption will mean that where the relevant information is not held by or available to the trustee, or the trustee is unable to determine if a beneficiary is a foreign person, they will not be required to notify the Minister of that foreign person.

Do you have any comments on the proposed exemption for trustees who do not hold the information required under s87E of the Water Management Act 2000?

Proposed exemption for trustees that are subject to foreign privacy or information sharing laws

Trustees may be subject to foreign privacy or information sharing laws. An exemption is proposed where reporting of foreign beneficiary information is not permitted under the laws of the foreign jurisdiction of the trustee. Without this exemption, a trustee may be placed in a conflicting situation where they could be required to break a foreign law in order to notify the Minister for Water of the names and contact details of foreign beneficiaries.

Do you have any comments on the proposed exemption for trustees that are subject to foreign privacy or information sharing laws?

Proposed exemption for trusts that hold less than 100ML of water entitlement

A Parliamentary intent of the Amenment Act was to improve the transparency of foreign ownership and investment in water entitlements. Of specific concern was foreign ownership of large amounts of water entitlement, with an ability to influence the operation of the water market.

Some trusts may hold relatively small amounts of licensed entitlement that would not reflect significant foreign ownership of water in NSW. Analysis from the Non-urban Metering Program identified that works associated with a 100ML and above of entitlement represent 95% of the licensed water take in NSW. The proposed exemption for foreign beneficiary reporting focusses on trusts with water holdings at or above 100ML to capture those most likely to have significant water holdings in NSW.

Do you have any comments on the proposed exemption for trusts that hold less than 100ML of water entitlement?

Additional information

If you have any other comments, please provide them here.

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