The meeting was chaired by Sir Angus Houston, AK, AFC (Ret), who announced his retirement earlier in the week.
Members acknowledged the exceptional leadership of Sir Angus Houston, whose tenure as Chair has significantly helped to build trust across the communities of the Basin and shape the MDBA’s commitment to sustainable water management and adaptive planning in response to climate challenges.
The MDBA and its stakeholders are deeply grateful for Sir Angus Houston’s leadership, which has laid a stronger foundation for a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable Murray–Darling Basin.
Members welcomed new Authority member Ms Allison Mudford, who is based in NSW and brings a with a wealth of community engagement experience. Ms Mudford who Chairs the board of the Hunter Local Land Services and is a producer member on the Southern Australia Livestock Research Council, replaces Ms Susan Madden who completed an 8-year term on the Board in November.
To close out the calendar year, Chief Executive Andrew McConville reflected on some key achievements including: the release of the Early Insights Paper, continued improvements in internal systems and processes, work on strengthening the culture and capability of the MDBA, successful completion of phase 2 of the Integrated River Uplift Program on time and ahead of budget, excellent progress towards the Basin Plan Evaluation, the completion of a successful north-south trial in the Darling (Baaka) system to improve conditions, and the substantial efforts undertaken to reset relationships with First Nations across the Basin.
Mr McConville also thanked members who went out on Country this year to meet with communities around the Basin, reiterating the importance of connection and learning from lived experience.
The Authority had a productive discussion with the Inspector General Water Compliance, considering the Inspector-General's recently announced audit of the Northern Basin Toolkit measures, exploring possible areas of collaboration and focus in the coming twelve months.
Following a briefing from Ms Lyn O’Connell, Deputy Secretary at the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, the Authority highlighted its strong focus on moving to a four-year budget framework for River Murray Joint Operations and associated operational and capital expenditure considerations. The Authority also discussed the Constraints Implementation Roadmap with Ms O’Connell, and updates on progress against the government’s water reform agenda.
Members reflected on their attendance at the 3-day Moving Forward Conversation in Canberra on 10 to 12 December with more than 120 First Nations people from more than 50 Nations across the Basin.
The gathering was an opportunity to listen deeply to First Nations peoples about their concerns for the health of the Basin’s waterways and how this impacts the health and wellbeing of communities. The Authority thanked the First Nations Leadership Group for the delivery of their report Water Country, which will be used to inform the Sustainable Rivers Audit.
The summary assessment ratings for the Basin Plan Report Card for the period ending 31 December 2024 were endorsed by the Authority and will be shared with Basin Governments and released in February 2025.
Members approved the Constraints Relaxation Implementation Roadmap (the Roadmap) which will be published on the MDBA website in the coming week.
The Authority endorsed an update to the Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism (SDLAM) Register of Measures and approved an update of the SDLAM Reconciliation Framework which provides clarity on the Authority's conduct of SDLAM Reconciliation in 2026. The framework, to be published in the new year, provides increased visibility on details on the assessment, conduct, method and consultation that will occur for the Reconciliation.
The Basin Plan Annual Report which is provided to Basin Ministers at the end of each calendar year to give visibility to Basin Plan progress and implementation, was also endorsed. The report will be tabled in Parliament in the new year.
The Authority thanked the River Operations team for their tireless effort throughout the year and acknowledged there were some challenging conditions to watch for heading into summer and supported the strategies in place to manage potential risks.
Sir Angus Houston (Chair)
Mr Andrew McConville (Chief Executive)
Ms Allison Mudford
Dr Jane Doolan
Mr Rene Woods
Ms Roseanne Healy
Professor Stuart Bunn
ENDS