Processing times for water trades
The tables below show the percentage of trades processed by the Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers within the indicated time frame. The intended service standards are set by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).
For reports on processing times for supplemented water assignments, visit Sunwater.
Seasonal water assignments – temporary trade
Table 1: Percentage of unsupplemented seasonal water assignment applications processed from 1 July 2024 to 31 May 2025.
| Seasonal water assignment processing requirements | Total number of seasonal water assignments processed | Number processed within standard requirement | Performance against standard | Intended service standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interstate seasonal water assignments—percentage processed within 10 business days | 6 | 6 | 100% | 90% |
| Intrastate seasonal water assignments—percentage processed within 5 business days | 121 | 110 | 91% | 90% |
Note: National Water Initiative terminology equivalent is 'allocation' trade.
Permanent water trades
Table 2: Percentage of permanent water trades registered on the Water Allocation Register from 1 July 2024 to 31 May 2025.
| Permanent trade registration requirement | Total number of permanent trades processed | Number processed within 10 days | Performance against standard | Intended service standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration of permanent trades within 10 business days | 664 | 612 | 92% | 90% |
Note: National Water Initiative terminology equivalent is 'water access entitlement' trade.
Additional notes
- The time frame for the service standard commences on receipt of the application forms and associated fee.
- The service standard is a measure of business days only.
- An application finalised on the same day it is received is taken as being finalised in 1 day.
- Recorded processing times exclude the time taken to return an application for correction or further information. Only the time spent by the department processing the trade is recorded.
- Performance against the service standard is reported as a cumulative monthly figure.