Commercial businesses that discharge trade wastewater must pay fees that cover the cost of managing, monitoring and treating it. These charges are set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) and apply from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.
Management fees
Management fees cover administration, monitoring, sampling and inspections.
Quarterly management fees
| Fee | 2025–26 charge | 2026–27 charge |
|---|---|---|
Quarterly permit fees – first process | $30.66 | $31.91 |
Quarterly permit fees – each additional process | $9.71 | $10.11 |
Liquid waste trap (grease trap) quarterly charge | $7.31 per trap | $7.61 per trap |
Discharge meter reading fee | $60.60 per meter | $63.08 per meter |
- Quarterly fee is based on the maximum of 92 days. Quarters with fewer days will cost less.
- Liquid waste charge is based on the maximum 92 days. Quarters with fewer days will cost less. This charge is for administration only.
If you have a grease trap, you must empty, clean and maintain it using a Wastesafe transporter.
Applications, variations and other fees
| Fee | 2025–26 charge | 2026–27 charge |
|---|---|---|
Application fee – low complexity | $555.08 | $577.84 |
Application fee – medium complexity | $615.68 | $640.92 |
Application fee – high complexity | $809.60 | $842.79 |
Variation fee | $324.81 | $338.13 |
Additional inspections | $254.51 | $264.94 |
Agreement non-compliance fee | $141.23 | $152.31 |
- Application fees are tiered based on the complexity of the trade wastewater requirements for each business. These charges reflect the hours required to process each application.
- Variation fees cover the cost of validating and processing changes to an existing approval. You may request a variation once every 6 months.
- Additional inspection fees apply when we need to do more than the planned inspections (included in the permit or consent fees). These inspections can be to monitor trade waste discharge or to ensure a customer complies with requirements.
Waste quality charges
Waste quality charges cover the cost of treating the pollutants in your wastewater. Charges are based on wastewater quality data from commercial customers with similar business processes. They're applied as a dollar per kilolitre ($/kL) rate.
| Commercial process | 2025–26 charging rate ($/kL) | 2026–27 charging rate ($/kL) |
|---|---|---|
High strength BOD food1 | 3.766 | 3.906 |
Low strength BOD food2 | 2.670 | 2.826 |
BOD food pre-treatment not maintained3 | 19.165 | 20.061 |
Automotive4 | 0.783 | 0.830 |
Commercial laundry5 | 0.613 | 0.677 |
Equipment hire washing6 | 4.161 | 4.352 |
Lithographic processing7 | 0.475 | 0.497 |
BOD stands for biochemical oxygen demand. It's a measure of the amount of dissolved oxygen that microorganisms need to break down organic matter in wastewater, and indicates how strong or polluted the wastewater is.
Table notes
- Businesses that produce wastewater with very high levels of organic matter. This includes fried chicken outlets (more than 2,000 mg/L/day), Asian style barbecues, ice cream shops, craft breweries (less than 12 kL/day) and some retail bakeries.
- Businesses with lower levels of organic material in their wastewater. This includes restaurants, food courts, takeaway shops, cafeterias, hospital and hotel kitchens, small bakeries, butchers, fishmongers, delis and small caterers (less than 12 kL/day).
- Applies when required pre‑treatment is not installed, too small or not properly maintained.
- Businesses that service or clean vehicles. This includes service stations, panel beaters, car detailers, mechanical workshops and some car wash activities.
- Businesses that wash linen or clothing for customers. This includes laundromats, commercial laundries less than 2 ML/year, and hospital, nursing home and hotel laundries, as well as small dyers.
- Businesses that wash equipment used for hire.
- Businesses involved in lithographic or related printing processes.
Sale of trade wastewater data
Only certain sections of trade wastewater permits are available for public disclosure. You can ask us to prepare trade wastewater data. The fee includes GST.
| Type of data | 2025–26 charge | 2026–27 charge |
|---|---|---|
Commercial trade wastewater data | $217.90 per hour | $226.83 per hour |