Appeal a water licence decision
If you're unhappy with a decision made by the Controller of Water Resources about your water extraction licence, you can request a review of that decision.
Members of the public also have the right to request a review of the decision.
How to apply
To request a review, follow these steps:
Step 1. Fill in the review of action or decision form DOCX (62.3 KB).
Step 2. Submit the completed form to secretariat.depws@nt.gov.au.
If you don't use the above form, your request won't accepted.
Timeframes
You must submit the completed form within 20 business days after the day the controller made the decision.
If the decision was to give a remediation notice, you must submit it within 10 business days.
After you apply
You'll get an email advising that your request has been received and a reference number.
If your request is against an action or decision of the water controller, the minister may decide to:
- uphold the action or decision
- substitute a new decision or
- refer the matter back to the water controller.
Review panel
Rather than make an immediate decision, the minister may refer the application to the Water Resources Review Panel.
The panel will then hold one or more hearings to consider the application.
You will be advised of hearing dates and may be asked to appear to present your application and answer questions.
The panel will provide its advice to the minister in a report.
Minister's final decision
When an application is referred to the review panel, the minister’s final decision must be made within a month of receiving the panel’s report.
In that time, the minister will do a merits review of the original decision and consider the report as part of that review.
The minister may decide to:
- uphold the action or decision or
- substitute a new decision.
You will receive a letter from the minister advising of the final decision.
More information
To find out more, read section 30 of the Water Act 1992 and regulation 4 of the Water Regulations 1992.
Contact
If you have any questions, email secretariat.depws@nt.gov.au.
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