Release of latest Victorian Water Brokers audit reports
- Details
- 31 May 2022
The Victorian 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.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning engaged consultants from RSM for both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 annual audits. RSM audited all 24 water broker firms that submitted trades during 2019-20 and 25 water broker firms who submitted trades during 2020-21 to determine how they complied with the Victorian Water Register online Broker Portal use agreement and rules.
The independent audits show 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 six broker firms.
- Suspended Broker Portal access for two broker firms for a period of two weeks.
- Sent letters to 17 water broker firms to formally close the audits, and where relevant included advice on improvements that could be implemented.
The 2019-20 and 2020-21 audit summary reports are available below and present the key findings of each audit.
