Water Resources Law

This short course introduces the main legal principles of water resources management and discusses key regulatory issues being faced in Western Australia. Applicable for both lawyers and non-lawyers, participants will become familiar with the principal legal and policy materials applied in the management of water resources in Western Australia, including insights into National Water Policy reform principles and national and international comparisons.

The course will explore six themes: 

1. the governance framework – the condition of WA’s water resources, water resources management institutions and objectives, key definitions and national water policy;

2. water access rights, including riparian rights and groundwater rights;

3. water allocation planning, with a focus on national water policy goals of water security in the face of climate change and allocations for Indigenous rights and interests;

4. administration of statutory water entitlements, with a focus on licence conditions and compliance;

5. Water quality management, including catchment management plans; and

6. regulatory perspectives on mining and water, including First Nations’ perspectives, and environmental impact assessment of impacts of water use, mine dewatering & mine closure.

In 2025, the course will be conducted with a combination of on-line pre-recorded lectures and readings available from 11 August, and interactive face-2-face sessions on 11-12 and 18-19 September.

Emeritus Professor Alex Gardner leads the course and is joined by guest experts in the presentation of the interactive sessions. These sessions will be in a seminar style with discussion exercises and guest presentations relating to the above six themes. The short course Program for interactive sessions will be available in August and can be provided on email request (contact details below

The content of the short course generally aligns with the treatise by A Gardner, R Bartlett, J Gray and R Nelson, Water Resources Law, 2nd edition, 2018 (LexisNexis Butterworths).

For attendance at this short course, practitioners are entitled up to 10 CPD points to be selected from the competency areas Professional Skills and Substantive Law depending on the sessions they attend.

The CPD rules differ for jurisdictions outside Western Australia and if you are outside Western Australia, we recommend that you check with your local relevant authority whether you can claim any CPD points.

Please contact the School directly for any enquiries relating to:

• a discount for not-for-profit, or

• group registrations (e.g. one registration to be shared by staff or members of one entity).