Water price review 2028

Water businesses are preparing for our next water price review

In September 2027, 16 Victorian water businesses are required to provide us with price submissions outlining their proposed prices and key service outcomes to apply from 1 July 2028.

We will assess each water business's price submission against a legal framework established by the Victorian Government and set out in the Water Industry Regulatory Order (PDF)(opens in a new window), and the commission's PREMO water pricing framework. PREMO includes incentives for each water business to put forward its best offer to customers and deliver the outcomes its customers value most.

Guidance to water businesses

In preparing to review water businesses' price submissions, we are engaging on proposed changes to our guidance which sets out:

the information each water business will be required to provide us in its price submission
our approach and methodology to assessing price submissions and making a price determination.

In April 2026 we published early direction on our priorities for the water sector and requirements for the 2028 water price review

Consultation on draft guidance

We released draft guidance for consultation on 20 July 2026. You can provide feedback on our draft guidance via Engage Victoria. Consultation closes at 5pm on Friday, 14 August 2026.

We expect to release the final guidance paper in September 2026.

Water businesses we will be reviewing

The 16 water businesses included in our review provide water and sewerage services to domestic, business and rural customers across Victoria. They are:

Barwon Water
Central Highlands Water
Coliban Water
East Gippsland Water
Gippsland Water
Goulburn Valley Water
Goulburn-Murray Water
Greater Western Water
GWMWater
Lower Murray Water
South East Water
South Gippsland Water
Southern Rural Water
Wannon Water
Westernport Water
Yarra Valley Water

We will seek feedback from customers and stakeholders of the 16 water businesses at multiple points throughout the price review process to inform our decision-making process. Following public consultation on our draft decision, we will issue a determination and final decision in June 2028 that sets the maximum prices that each water business may charge its customers from 1 July 2028.

How does this affect you?

Water price submissions set out the service levels water businesses propose to deliver and the prices they propose to charge - in essence, their customer value proposition. Water businesses must engage with customers to understand what they value and prepare proposals that reflect this.

Our determination sets maximum prices customers can be charged for the services they receive from their water business, and the key service outcomes they can expect for the period from 1 July 2028.

We encourage customers to engage with their water business as it develops its price submission, to help ensure it reflects their views and preferences. Customers will also have the opportunity to engage with the commission during our price review process after water businesses have submitted their proposals to us at the end of September 2027.