Apply for a head or sub-water licence

You must have a licence to take surface water or groundwater in the Northern Territory (NT).

A head licence is a water extraction licence for a development precinct. Under a head licence, you can transfer water to sub-licence holders.

Conditions of a head licence

You can do most activities that are permitted under a water extraction licence.

You can’t carry out mining and petroleum activities.

If you’re granted a head licence, you must follow the conditions attached to the licence.

This includes submitting water meter readings.

If you breach a condition, you may face a fine or penalty.

The Controller of Water Resources assesses applications under the Water Act 1992.

They are also assessed in line with:

For a head licence, the controller will assess all of the precinct development's:

The controller also considers the environmental and cultural values in line with the Act, framework and policy.

Applications are made available for public comment.

If you’re granted a head licence, you can apply to transfer or trade water to an operator in the precinct through a sub-licence.

You don’t need an assessment or notice period for this.

Sub-licence activities must be consistent with activities in the head licence application.

You can’t carry out mining and petroleum activities.

For the benefit of the development precinct, water under a head licence should only be traded permanently within the precinct.

To check if you can trade outside a development precinct, read the trading water licence entitlements policy PDF (397.2 KB).

Use the water extraction licence application to apply for a head licence.

Use section 2 of the form to specify your request for a head licence.

In sections 7 to 10 of the form, you must state:

For more information, email water.licensing@nt.gov.au.