Industrial businesses that discharge trade wastewater must pay fees that cover the cost of managing, monitoring and treating their wastewater. 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. The fees are based on your risk rating.
Quarterly management fees
| Fees | 2025–26 charge | 2026–27 charge |
|---|---|---|
Quarterly consent fees – Risk Index 1 | $5,051.79 | $5,258.91 |
Quarterly consent fees – Risk Index 2 | $4,879.15 | $5,079.19 |
Quarterly consent fees – Risk Index 3 | $4,402.41 | $4,582.91 |
Quarterly consent fees – Risk Index 4 | $2,232.27 | $2,323.79 |
Quarterly consent fees – Risk Index 5 | $1,307.15 | $1,360.75 |
Quarterly consent fees – Risk Index 6 | $725.25 | $754.99 |
Quarterly consent fees – Risk Index 7 | $659.21 | $686.24 |
Liquid waste trap (grease trap) quarterly charge | $7.31 per trap | $7.61 per trap |
- 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
| Fees | 2025–26 charge | 2026–27 charge |
|---|---|---|
Application fee – standard | $1,107.74 | $1,153.16 |
Application fee – non-standard | $145.44 per hour | $151.40 per hour |
Variation fee – standard | $812.02 | $845.31 |
Variation fee – non-standard | $145.44 per hour | $151.40 per hour |
Renewal fee | No fee | No fee |
Additional inspections | $254.51 | $264.94 |
Agreement non-compliance fee | $141.23 | $152.31 |
- Application fees are tiered based on the complexity of the trade wastewater requirements for each business. These charges reflect the hours required to process each application.
- Variation fees cover the cost of validating and processing changes to an existing approval. You may request a variation once every 6 months.
- Additional inspection fees apply when we need to do more than the planned inspections (included in the permit or consent fees). These inspections can be to monitor trade waste discharge or to ensure a customer complies with requirements.
Waste quality charges
Waste quality charges cover the cost of treating the pollutants in your wastewater. The charges depend on whether your trade wastewater receives primary, secondary or tertiary treatment. Find out what level of treatment is provided at your water resource recovery facility.
Each substance has a dollar per kilogram ($/kg) charging rate. For substances with a domestic equivalent, we'll deduct the mass of substances up to the equivalent domestic mass to determine the chargeable trade waste mass.
Primary treatment
A primary water resource recovery facility provides simple treatment involving screening, settling and flotation to treat wastewater.
| Substance | 2025–26 charging rate ($/kg) | 2026–27 charging rate ($/kg) |
|---|---|---|
BOD | 0.455 + (0.195 x [BOD mg/L] / 600) | 0.532 + (0.263 x [BOD mg/L] / 600) |
Suspended solids | 0.563 | 0.646 |
Grease | 0.531 | 0.615 |
Nitrogen | 0.000 | 0.000 |
Phosphorus | 0.000 | 0.000 |
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.
Secondary or tertiary treatment
A secondary water resource recovery facility treats wastewater using screening, settling, flotation and bacterial decomposition. A tertiary water resource recovery facility treats wastewater using screening, settling, flotation, bacterial decomposition and nutrient removal.
| Substance | 2025–26 charging rate ($/kg) | 2026–27 charging rate ($/kg) |
|---|---|---|
BOD | 2.973 + (0.195 x [BOD mg/L] / 600) | 2.726 + (0.263 x [BOD mg/L] / 600) |
Suspended solids | 2.028 | 2.101 |
Grease | 1.738 | 1.796 |
Nitrogen | 2.707 | 2.807 |
Phosphorus | 3.146 | 3.269 |
Extra charges for odour or corrosion risks
If you discharge to a wastewater system affected by accelerated odour and corrosion, these additional charges may apply.
| Substance | 2025–26 charging rate | 2026–27 charging rate |
|---|---|---|
Temperature > 25°C | $10.365 / megalitre / each °C above 25°C | $10.790 / megalitre / each °C above 25°C |
pH | $93.633 / megalitre / each pH unit < pH7 | $97.472 / megalitre / each pH unit < pH7 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
Industrial trade wastewater data | $217.90 per hour | $226.83 per hour |