Abstract
The 1994 national water policy proposed the creation of property rights in water separate from land titles as an important element in the reform of the water industry. Western Australian legislation enacted in 2000 seeks to implement this policy, but to what effect? This article reviews the development of rights to take and use water from their common law foundations as incidents of land title, through the system of statutory privileges administered for most of the twentieth century to the new statutory foundations for the creation of property rights in water in Western Australia. It discusses the new legislative basis for licensed water entitlements as property rights separate from land titles, analysing the provisions for the grant of licences, the rights and duties under a licence, the review and variation of a licence, the right to trade a water entitlement, and the mechanisms for the protection of water property rights.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-18 |
| Journal | Australian Property Law Journal |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2003 |