From 1 July 2025 there are additional Australian Government obligations on water brokers and exchanges operating in the Murray-Darling Basin, under a new Water Markets Intermediaries Code.

As a water market participant you are encouraged to familiarise yourself with the Code and the new safeguards that have been put in place to ensure your broker acts in your best interests.

The new Code, and complementary trust accounting obligations, place further responsibilities on water market intermediaries. This is in addition to the rules they must follow under Australian Consumer Law.

The Code is designed to give greater protection to users of water brokers and exchanges, aligning standards with those that exist in other similar markets. Some obligations under the Code commence on 1 July 2025, others on 1 October 2025.

The Code requires that all market intermediaries, including brokers, must:

• act in good faith
• place the client’s interests before their own
• act in accordance with lawful client instructions
• disclose conflicts of interest
• deal with complaints
• use a trust account when holding money, and maintain broking water accounts when holding water rights, on behalf of another person during provision of intermediary services
• hold professional indemnity insurance.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) enforce the Code, trust accounting requirements and Australian Consumer Law. There can be significant financial penalties for misconduct by water brokers and exchanges.

Water brokers who use the Victorian online Broker Portal for submitting trades are also subject to Victorian requirements for Portal access and are audited for compliance against these.

Further resources:

• ACCC guidance on fair trading rights for market participants is here.
• ACCC guidance on the new Code is here.
• Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water information on the new Code is here.
• Information on the Victorian Broker Portal access status and insurance for various brokers can be found here.