Review a water decision

You can apply to the Minister to seek a review of an action or decision made under the water legislation.

How to seek a review

To seek a review of decision made under the Water Act 1992, you must:

• fill in the review of action or decision form DOCX (63.4 KB)
• submit the completed form to secretariat.denr@nt.gov.au.

Your application cannot be accepted unless you have used the above form.

Timeframes

You must submit the completed form within 30 days from the date the decision was notified.

Unless the decision was to issue a remediation notice, in which case the timeframe is 14 days.

The process

You will be sent an email to confirm your application has been received.

If your review application is against an action or decision of the Controller of Water Resources, the Minister may decide to:

• uphold the action or decision
• substitute a new decision, or
• refer the matter back to the Controller of Water Resources.

Review panel

Rather than making a decision up front, the Minister may refer the application to the Water Resources Review Panel and ask it for advice.

Upon receiving the advice, the Minister may decide to:

• uphold the action or decision, or
• substitute a new decision.

If the application is referred to the review panel, the Minister’s final decision must be made within one month of receiving the review panel’s report.

Review applicants will receive a letter from the Minister advising of the final decision.

For more information

To find out more, read section 30 of the Water Act 1992 and regulation 4 of the Water Regulations 1992.

You can also email secretariat.denr@nt.gov.au.