The Government is committed to increasing water market transparency and actively monitoring water markets to ensure that they continue to operate effectively. 

The annual audit of allocation trades submitted by water brokers through the Victorian Water Register’s online Broker Portal is a key component of recognising water brokers that meet government standards and auditing requirements.  The audit helps to ensure that brokers meet their obligations to provide transparency of allocation trades and accurate price disclosure to all parties. The audit also evaluates the security of sensitive information and investigates brokers’ knowledge of their responsibilities to their clients.

DELWP engaged consultants from RSM for both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 annual audits. RSM audited all 22 water broker firms that submitted trades during 2017-18 and 21 brokers in 2018-19 to determine how they complied with the Victorian Water Register online Broker Portal use agreement and rules.  

The independent auditors concluded that there has been an overall improvement in broker compliance in both years compared to results of prior audits. Based on the final outcomes, the Department has:

• Issued warning notifications to five broker firms.
• Suspended Broker Portal access for one broker firm for a period of two weeks.
• Sent letters to 18 water broker firms to formally close the audits, and where relevant included advice on improvements that could be implemented.

The 2017-18 and 2018-19 audit summary reports are available below and present the key findings of each audit.

Download PDF Summary Report - 2018/19 Victorian water brokers audit (PDF - 416Kb)

Download PDF Summary Report - 2017/18 Victorian water brokers audit (PDF - 725Kb)