WAL register fees

Water Access Licence Register transaction fees

By agreement with the NSW Office of Water (previously Department of Water and Energy), the fee for WAL searches will be the same as the fees applicable for equivalent Torrens title searches. Fees for lodgment of WAL dealings are not equivalent to lodgment fees applicable for dealings lodged under the Real Property Act 1900. This is because a Torrens Assurance Fund levy of $4.00 is included in the fee for each Real Property Act dealing. As indefeasibility of title is not yet offered for water access licences, no levy is applied to WAL dealings.

Fees from 1 July 2010

Please note that the above fees relate only to transactions on the WAL Register. Licensing and other fees are applied by NSW Office of Water.

Role of NSW Office of Water

NSW Office of Water maintains overall responsibility for accepting and assessing applications to change water access licences including:

• change of water source (eg from a regulated river to a connected unregulated river)
• change of category (eg from general security on a regulated river to high security)
• subdivision, ie dividing the water access licence into parts (eg a licence for 10 unit shares divided into one licence for 7 unit shares and another licence for 3 unit shares)
• consolidation, ie amalgamation of a number of water access licences into one, and
• change of nominated water supply works, ie changing the location from which water may be extracted.

Once approved, NSW Office of Water will provide a Notification dealing form to the applicant for lodgment with LPI for updating of the WAL Register.

NSW Office of Water will provide an Application number for inclusion on or with the transfer form where the written consent of the Minister for Water is required for a change of the holder. Where applicable, the requirement for Minister's consent will appear on the WAL folio. The written consent of term transferees, mortgagees and chargees is also required for certain transactions.

Several other registers apart from the WAL Register are required under the Water Management Act 2000. These registers are maintained by NSW Office of Water. They are:

• Applications and approval register
• Available water determination register
• Register of irrigation corporations.

Further Information

For further information on the WAL Register and associated transactions, contact LPI on T: 1300 052 637 or our Client Service Counter, ground floor, 1 Prince Albert Road, Queens Square, Sydney.

For further information on all other matters relating to the Water Management Act 2000, telephone the NSW Office of Water on T: 1800 353 104 or visit their website.