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Overview

The Water Registrar has responsibility for the part of the Victorian Water Register in which dealings with water shares are recorded. Water authorities administering the declared water systems in northern and southern Victoria also access the Victorian Water Register to manage details of other water related entitlements.

The Minister for Water is responsible for maintaining the system for the water register and the records in the water register. The Minister also accesses the Victorian Water Register. Please visit the Victorian Water Register website for more information on the Minister’s functions.

The Victorian Water Register

The Victorian Water Register is the public register of all water-related entitlements in Victoria. It records:

  • who has been issued with water shares and the reliability, tenure, location and holding in megalitres (ML) for each water share
  • how much water has been allocated against water shares, how much has been used, and where it was used
  • interests in water shares, such as mortgages and change of ownership details

The Water Registrar is responsible for:

  • maintaining records and information in the Water Register relating to water shares
  • ensuring the accuracy, reliability and accessibility of the records
  • providing publicly available information from the records and information in the water register relating to water shares

You can find information by using LANDATA® or an authorised information broker. Visit where to find land title details for further information.

The links below will help you lodge water share transactions, including:

  • transfers of water shares
  • mortgages
  • discharges of mortgage
  • applications to change ownership details
  • applications by a surviving owner of a water share

You can lodge your water share transaction using a form approved by the Water Registrar after searching the register. You can search the register using LANDATA® or an authorised information broker.

You will need to access the Victorian Water Register website to find out about:

  • the distribution of entitlements by water systems and trading zones
  • information about trading rules and trades that have occurred
  • average prices in a water system.

Lodging a transaction with the Water Registrar

Visit Lodging in the Victorian Water Register for more information.

Important information about transfers of water shares

A transfer of water share must be first approved by your Water Authority.  It must then be lodged in the Water Register within two calendar months from the date your Water Authority approved the transaction. If the transaction isn’t lodged within two calendar months, the Water Authority approval lapses and the Water Registrar will not record the transfer.

Fees apply for lodging a transaction with the Water Registrar. You can find information on fees in the Victorian Water Register.

Searching the Victorian Water Register

To obtain water share information you can search the Victorian Water Register using LANDATA® or an authorised information broker.

To do a search or to order water-related documents, you will need the following information to identify the documents:

  • Water Share Record reference - e.g. WEE123456 and/or
  • Water Register Document reference - e.g. MOR654321

Fees apply to search the Victorian Water Register.

Visit where to find land title details to find the link to LANDATA® and authorised information brokers.

Further information

For more information about the Victorian Water Register, Water Registrar and searching the water register, visit our frequently asked questions.

For location and contact details, visit our contact page.

Page last updated: 11/07/23