Legal framework

SA Water was set up by an Act of Parliament and is directly affected by five key Acts. This legal framework makes sure you have clean and safe water. It also helps to ensure:

• we are properly licensed and meet required technical standards (Water Industry Act 2012)
• we price our services fairly (Water Industry Act 2012)
• flood-prone areas are properly drained (Metropolitan Drainage Act 1935)
• eligible customers can access concessions. (Rates and Land Tax Remission Act 1986).

How the law makes sure you have clean and safe water

The Safe Drinking Water Act 2011 and the Safe Drinking Water Regulations 2012 make sure we test water regularly. We report the results to the Department for Health and Ageing and publish the results online.

This Act also makes sure that we:

• conduct regular audits
• have approved monitoring in place
• manage risk.

We’re a government-owned business enterprise

The South Australian Water Corporation Act 1994 is the Act that established SA Water as a government business enterprise. As a business enterprise we do commercial activities on behalf of our owner. That owner is the Government of South Australia.

We are also subject to the Public Corporations Act 1993. The Public Corporations Act requires us to operate in a competitive and profitable way.