The National Water Initiative is Australia’s national blueprint for water reform. It is a national agreement that represents a shared appreciation of the need to implement a strategic framework to achieve an efficient and sustainable water industry. During the past 5 years, impetus for the reform process has decreased, and progress has slowed in areas such as development of comprehensive water plans, improvements in sustainable water use, standardisation and nationalisation of water markets, and broader adoption of water accounting. Urban water performance reporting has become more regularised and accessible, while national reporting on water markets is less so. Reform in the Murray–Darling Basin has continued to progress.

Groundwater management gained significant attention and impetus during 2011–16, and focus on groundwater-dependent ecosystems has increased. A national suite of collated and standardised groundwater data is available, building on the long-term efforts of states and territories. The Bioregional Assessment Programme has increased baseline information and groundwater understanding for the 6 bioregions, with spin-off advantages likely to arise from general improvements in groundwater data quality and accessibility.

Water quality assessment for this report relied largely on water quality analysis and reporting by state, territory and other agencies, unlike the 2011 assessment. Local or regional report card assessments offered insight into water quality in some areas of the country. Water quality trends were found to be either stable or unclear across the country, with some areas improving. Water ecosystem condition was rated largely as poor. In managing water quality, risks have arisen as resources allocated to ongoing broadscale monitoring, analysis and reporting have diminished.