Pricing policies
Under the National Water Initiative, governments have committed to achieving consistency in:
- pricing policies for water storage and delivery across sectors and jurisdictions
- approaches to pricing and attributing the costs of water planning and management.
It is important to note that best practice water pricing policies are seeking to achieve consistency in approaches to charging, rather than consistent charges.
Why is consistency important?
Consistency in approaches to setting water charges is important because it:
- helps foster competitive neutrality (for water based trade and investment purposes)
- brings greater transparency to charging practices
- offers the opportunity to improve water charging practices across Australia.
Work on developing consistent approaches to water charging is being progressed through the Steering Group on Water Charges.
A note on competitive neutrality
Competitive neutrality refers to the principle that public sector business activities which are in competition with the private sector should not have competitive advantages or disadvantages simply by virtue of their government ownership or control.