Water for Fodder – Compliance

You can confidentially report suspected breaches by:

The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment takes the integrity of programs it administers, including the Water for Fodder program, seriously.

We are conducting compliance activities to ensure the water provided is used to grow fodder. These activities ensure the community can have confidence in our program’s delivery.

To ensure compliance, we may perform:

  • remote sensing
  • audits of evidence, such as metering records, allocation account statements for any allocation accounts held by the applicant, invoices and photographs
  • surveys

Please note: We are limiting the number of on-site visits due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements and travel restrictions. Instead we may ask you to provide us with additional documentation. This may include tax invoices or other evidence of seed and fertilizer purchases, or receipts for the sale of fodder produced.

Remote Sensing

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Notes:
A. Pre-watering event during February.
B. Pre-watering event during February. The brown colour shows lack of vegetation (NDVI Index).
C. Post-watering event during May
D. Post-watering event during May. The green colour shows live vegetation (NDVI Index).

What program participants can do

Successful applicants under the program can help us by:

  • understanding and complying with the Program Guidelines
  • taking photos when you sow and harvest your fodder (on Twitter, use the hashtag #waterforfodder)
  • keeping records (including invoices for seed, fertiliser etc.)
  • reply in a complete and timely manner to our requests for more information
  • allow access to your property if we need to conduct an on-site visit.

If you break the rules

The department may take a range of actions depending on the breach and circumstances surrounding it.

The department may educate you on your mistake and give you an opportunity to rectify the breach. The department may also revoke the water offer or exclude you from participating in the program.

For more serious breaches, the department may examine civil options through the courts. This will depend on the nature of the breach. The department may refer breaches for criminal investigation and prosecution if they are serious enough.

If you suspect a breach

If you suspect someone has breached the program’s rules, you can:

Any information we receive will be dealt with in-confidence. You can remain anonymous, however, this may affect our ability to follow up on the report.

Personal information will be dealt with in accordance with our Privacy Policy.