Water and Wastewater Services in Non-Metropolitan New South Wales: A Critical Analysis of the Report of the Independent Inquiry

The Report of the Inquiry into water services in non-metropolitan New South Wales recommended that the state's local water utilities be 'aggregated' into 'regional groups organised either by means of a "binding alliance" model, a "council-owned regional water corporation" model, or the "status quo for some large general purpose councils and county councils". This paper critically examines these recommendations in the light of existing theoretical and empirical literature on structural reform in Australian local government generally, and water-utility reform specifically.