The Project Team subsequently prepared two pieces of legislation giving effect to Cabinet's decision: the Water and Sewerage Industry Act 2008 and the Water and Sewerage Corporations Act 2008. Both Acts were passed by Parliament on 30 May 2008. The new structures will greatly improve our environmental and public health outcomes. This means that the water and sewerage sector will no longer negatively impact on the Tasmanian economy. The reforms are intended to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Next year…

We will assist Local Government by providing support for implementing regulatory and structural reform. This will involve:

establishing the four new water and sewerage corporations;

assisting with recruiting Boards and Chief Executive Officers for the new corporations;

overseeing a detailed due diligence process which will identify assets liabilities and employees that will transfer to the new organisations on 1 July 2009;

progressing Miscellaneous, Consequential and Transitional Arrangements legislation associated with the new regulatory framework and Community Service Obligation legislation;

providing further policy advice regarding pricing matters, including advice on the first Interim Price Order;

providing advice on the Interim Licence terms and conditions that will apply to the three regional water and sewerage corporations; and

establishing minimum customer service standards for the sector.

Performance information –
Output Group 2

1. Stakeholder satisfaction rating of the quality of services

The satisfaction rating is obtained from the results of the Department's Stakeholder Survey and relates to the quality and appropriateness of advice and accessibility and responsiveness of officers in the Economic and Financial Policy Division. This survey is undertaken every two years, and the detailed results of the latest survey will be available in September 2008.

2. Variance between Budget estimate and actual taxation receipts

The accuracy of the Department's taxation receipt forecasts can be determined by comparing the Budget estimate with the actual end-of-year outcome.

3. Variance between Budget estimate and actual Australian Government payments

The accuracy of the Department's Australian Government payments forecasts is determined by comparing the Budget estimate with the actual end-of-year outcome.

4. Ranking of the accuracy of Tasmanian tax forecasts compared with other states and territories

This measure provides an indication of the quality of taxation forecasts by comparing the accuracy of the Department's estimates with the accuracy of estimates developed by other state and territory Treasuries. The target is for Tasmania to be ranked in the top half of all jurisdictions.

5. Number of annual Budget economic forecasts more accurate than industry benchmark forecasts

The quality of the economic forecasts can be determined by comparing the accuracy of the Department's estimates with the accuracy of industry benchmark forecasts developed by independent economic forecasters near the same time. The target is for over half of the Department's estimates to be more accurate than industry benchmark forecasts. The reduction in the number of Budget economic forecasts is due to the Department ceasing to provide a forecast of the 10-year Commonwealth bond rate from the 2007–08 Budget.