About water brokers and exchanges
Water brokers and exchanges are sometimes referred to as water market intermediaries.
They play an important role in the water market bringing buyers and sellers together, reducing search costs and improving information flows.
Water brokers perform a similar function to mortgage brokers. On behalf of their clients, they:
- investigate trading options
- arrange the necessary paperwork
- help obtain regulatory approvals.
Water exchanges are a trading platform. They:
- match buyers and sellers through an automated process or bulletin board
- organise and submit the necessary paperwork to trade approval authorities.
Advising the Murray-Darling Basin Authority
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority is responsible for:
Before th Murray-Darling Basin Authority can amend the Basin Plan water trading rules, it must get advice from the ACCC.
See Water trading rules: advice development.
A role in regulating water market conduct
The Australian Government plans to legislate new functions for the ACCC as the water market conduct regulator in the Murray-Darling Basin.
The new functions were recommended by the water market reform roadmap which responded to the ACCC’s water markets inquiry.
The new functions will include basin wide laws that address harmful market conduct, including through:
- bans on market manipulation
- stronger insider trading rules
- a mandatory code of conduct for water market intermediaries.