1.5 Development of the Guidelines

National guidance on drinking water was first published by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in 1972 as Desirable Standards for Public Water Supplies in Australian Capital Cities, adopting the Biennial Conference of Engineers Criteria and Objectives for Water Quality for Capital Cities (1969). The NHMRC standards were updated in 1975 as Recommended Quality Criteria for Drinking Water and in 1977 as Desirable Quality for Drinking Water. In 1980, Desirable Quality for Drinking Water was revised and jointly published with the Australian Water Resources Council (AWRC). This was considered a significant advance in water quality management because, for the first time, water supply and health authorities in Australia combined to produce a single guideline document. The 1980 guidelines were based on published criteria and standards recommended by overseas and international agencies, in particular the 1971 International Standards for Drinking Water of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Following a review of the 1980 Guidelines, and taking into consideration the 1984 WHO Guidelines for Drinking-Water Quality, the NHMRC and the AWRC published the Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality in Australia in 1987.

In 1996, the NHMRC and the Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand (ARMCANZ, formerly AWRC) published the Guidelines. The Guidelines were based on working papers and assessments prepared by the WHO expert panels, and reflected recent improvements in understanding problems of water quality. Referenced material included scientific papers, Guidelines published by overseas agencies, issues papers prepared by Australian water authorities, and assessments made by the NHMRC. Only the key references were cited, particularly those that were used as a basis for determining guideline values.

The guideline values in the 1996 Guidelines were based primarily on the latest WHO recommendations, and any departures from these were detailed in the text. It should be noted, however, that the WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality seek to define drinking water which, as well as being safe, is aesthetically acceptable, whereas the emphasis in the Australian Guidelines is on producing drinking water that is safe and of good aesthetic quality.

During the development of the 1996 Guidelines, it became evident that undertaking a major review of the Guidelines in the future would be time consuming and resource intensive. To improve development and ensure that the Guidelines continued to represent the latest scientific evidence, the NHMRC and ARMCANZ agreed to initiate a ‘rolling revision’ process for the Guidelines. Through this process, the Guidelines would remain under constant revision, with specific issues identified for review as required.

In 1998, NHMRC and ARMCANZ established a joint committee, the Drinking Water Review Coordinating Group, to oversee and manage the review process. In 2001–2002, ARMCANZ and the Australia and New Zealand Environment Conservation Council were replaced with the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council (NRMMC) and the Environment Protection and Heritage Council. The Guidelines continue to be developed under the auspices of the NHMRC and NRMMC.

A major revision of the 1996 Guidelines was published as the 2004 Guidelines. Specialist panels developed the Framework for Management of Drinking Water Quality, outlined in Chapters 2 and 3, and the sections on microorganisms, physical quality, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals, radiological quality and pesticides. The specialist panels and the joint committee included representatives from the NHMRC, water authorities, private industry, universities, departments of health, departments of water resources and others.

Chapter 8, Drinking Water Treatment Chemicals, was subsequently incorporated into the Guidelines in 2006, the aim was to ensure that the chemicals used to produce drinking water are safe and appropriate for the purpose, and to provide the water industry with guidance on drinking water treatment chemicals.

The 2011 edition of the Guidelines supersedes the 2004 Guidelines, as amended in 2006. Major differences between the current Guidelines and the 2004 edition include revisions to the monitoring chapters (9 and 10) together with the information sheets on sampling and statistics, to achieve closer alignment with the Framework for Management of Drinking Water Quality (Chapter 3).

The 2011 edition also includes new pesticide fact sheets and revision of some existing microbiological and chemical contaminant fact sheets. The Guidelines are part of the National Water Quality Management Strategy. The strategy aims to ‘achieve sustainable use of the nation’s water resources by protecting and enhancing their quality while maintaining economic and social development’. It provides information and tools to help communities manage their water resources to meet current and future needs.

A regulatory impact statement (RIS), including a cost-benefit evaluation of regulatory alternatives, was not undertaken as part of this review. The Productivity Commission has determined that the NHMRC is not required to undertake an RIS as the Guidelines do not have a regulatory status (Productivity Commission 2000). Implementation of the Guidelines by the states and territories is at the discretion of each state and territory health department, usually in consultation with water suppliers, and should include an appropriate economic analysis prior to implementation.