New standards and systems
New data standards and systems will be in place from 1 July 2026. These include:
- water markets data standards – improving the transparency and availability of water markets information provided to the Bureau
- water data hub – a digital platform to store and access water markets information
- water markets website – allowing access to near real-time water market updates.
These changes are part of the Australian Government's water market reforms. For more about the reforms, see Reforms, standards and systems on this page.
Latest updates
Water market sentiment survey
Our first yearly water market sentiment survey is in progress. It will help us learn more about:
- the current state of water information – data and insights on permanent and temporary water rights in the Murray–Darling Basin, and the trade of these rights
- how this information is used
- where and how this information is accessed.
If you use Murray–Darling water markets information and would like to complete the survey, contact us.
Water markets data standards
Data elements nearly complete
The data to be given to the Bureau under the water markets data standards has been separated into data elements. Key stakeholders and data providers have contributed to the list of the data elements. For the list of data elements, contact us.
Exposure draft
A draft of the water markets data standards (2026) will be available for you to have your say, before these take effect on 1 July 2026. This draft will come with a guide to help you better understand the objective and details in the standards.
Water data hub foundations
The data flows in the water data hub's technical foundations have been successfully tested with the help of test partners. These tests confirmed that the system can successfully ingest data, complete validation checks and encrypt the data. The stored data was also successfully decrypted and accessed by our regulatory test partner. We continue to build on these foundations.
Engagement
We are working closely with the:
- Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
- Inspector-General of Water Compliance (IGWC)
- stakeholders affected by the new water markets data reporting requirements in the Murray–Darling Basin.
We have completed 3 rounds of engagement. Our engagement with data providers continues as we finalise the water markets data standards.