Policy Officer

APS 5 - $78,548 - $86,168 per annum plus superannuation
- Water Policy Division
- Adelaide, SA,Brisbane, QLD,Canberra, ACT,Darwin, NT,Hobart, TAS,Melbourne, VIC,Perth, WA,Sydney, NSW
- Each of the sections in the branch plays a key role in coordinating governance, whether that is collaborating and innovating across the Commonwealth on cross-cutting issues such as climate or the Australian Government’s Nature Positive agenda or fostering strong and highly productive relationships with state and territory governments, research organisations, industry, and key stakeholder groups. We design and implement policy, deliver programs, solve problems, build strong relationships, coordinate important water science and research and provide good advice to the Government. The outcomes of our work look after water, people and the environment. As with all things water, the effects of good water management trickle down into every aspect of Australian life._

**Who we are**
The Water Division helps communities, irrigators and businesses, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin, use water resources sustainably and efficiently by progressing national water reforms. The division contributes to the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan by recovering water, in ways that achieve the outcomes of the plan. The division promotes sustainable water development nationally under the principles of the National Water Initiative. The division works in a constantly changing environment and must deliver key national water reforms in set timeframes.

The Basins Policy and Science Branch provides leadership and strategic policy, underpinned by science, to ensure the sustainable future of surface and groundwater resources and those who depend on them. We support cross jurisdictional water reform initiatives in the Murray-Darling Basin, Great Artesian Basin and Lake Eyre Basin, and nationally, working to future-proof Australia’s water resources and provide support to First Nations in our national water story. The Basins Policy and Science Branch is looking to fill multiple positions across all sections.

Within the branch there are five sections: The Murray-Darling Basin Policy Section undertakes policy development and provides advice on: high priority and emerging Murray-Darling Basin policy issues; and matters relating to the operation and implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. This section prepares new policy proposals, cabinet submissions and advice on MDB Policy and Basin Plan issues. It coordinates Commonwealth input and responses to related inquiries and reviews.

The Murray-Darling Basin Intergovernmental Section is responsible for policy development and advice on matters concerning the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and relevant Intergovernmental Agreements. It manages the Commonwealth’s interests under the Murray-Darling Basin Agreement, supports the Commonwealth’s role as Chairs of the MDB Ministerial Council and Basin Officials Committee, and handles policy and administrative matters concerning the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA).

The Great Artesian Basin and Lake Eyre Basin Section facilitates and supports a ‘whole-of-basin’ approach to the sustainable management of two nationally important Basins, the Lake Eyre Basin and the Great Artesian Basin. The section’s responsibilities also include managing cross-jurisdictional committees to develop comprehensive water management policies, running basin-scale work programs, providing national policy advice on groundwater resources, and supporting the National Water Reform Committee’s National Groundwater Sub-Committee.

The National Strategies and Assessments Section leads jurisdictional cooperation on water quality and hydrological modelling, provides advice on National water policy issues, the impact of plantations on water resources and revises standards and manages programs to facilitate faster implementation of metering and telemetry across Australia. It plays an important role in supporting national water reform focused on water quality through managing project and a national program on water quality standards and guidelines. This section also has responsibilities to undertake assessments and reporting on Murray-Darling Basin state performance for their implementation of Basin reforms.

The Science and Policy Coordination Section are connectors across the Commonwealth on national water science collaboration and engagement, coordinating water policy advice on cross-cutting issues like climate change. It has responsibility for the department’s liaison with the Bureau of Meteorology on a range of issues in the Environment and Water portfolio, including support for budgetary and administration functions. The section provides technical and policy guidance for water research programs and supports the delivery of government commitments that update the science underpinning the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, working closely with the MDB