Penalties and enforcement

How will restrictions be enforced?

As with Permanent Water Saving Rules, water utilities will continue to rely on the public to report any suspected breach of water restrictions. We also have Authorised Water Officers to ensure that we have a strong presence in the community around water restrictions.

Authorised Water Officers look out for customers who are not complying with water restrictions, visit houses where people are asking for advice and provide assistance on restrictions as well as follow-up suspected breaches.

What will Authorised Water Officers do?

Authorised Water Officers will be looking out for residents, businesses and local councils who are not complying with water restrictions.

This includes:

• Watering on the wrong day or outside the permitted times.
• Hosing down paved areas and driveways.
• Using an old twist nozzle on their hose rather than a trigger nozzle.
• Filling a pool of 2,000 litres or more without permission from a water utility.

Will there be penalties?

Yes - penalties apply for non-compliance with water restrictions. Water restrictions must be followed and Authorised Water Officers can issue fines to customers who do not comply with water restrictions across Melbourne.


 Click here for a fact sheet on offences and penalties (PDF 111KB)


Our first priority is to educate the community however we can issue a Penalty Infringement Notice (fine) or restrict supply for repeat breaches. Legislation allows us to issue a fine for serious breaches without providing advance notification.

We have found that in many cases residents and businesses that are issued with a breach notice are inadvertently doing the wrong thing and generally ensure they are compliant in the future.

What is the process?

If a water utility receives a complaint regarding water use that violates restrictions, we may send an educational letter advising the customer of the current stage of water restrictions and what is and what is not allowed. On other occasions we may visit the customer or site to investigate.

If Authorised Water Officers identify a customer who is not complying with water restrictions, they may issue a formal warning or a penalty infringement notice in the mail or in person.

The fine for non-compliance with Stage 2 water restrictions is $358.00.  Alternatively, customers observed breaching restrictions can have their water supply restricted or face prosecution.

Before a formal warning or fine is issued, Authorised Water Officers will be checking to see if the customer has an exemption or is using rain or grey water, which can be used at any time. We still encourage people who notice people doing the wrong thing to call the water restriction hotline of their local water retailer (13WATER, 13 92837).