We are reviewing new customer contributions (NCCs) in Victoria's water sector due to several issues we observed in relation to the implementation of NCCs.
Review of New Customer Contributions
- Release of consultation paper15 August 2024
- Submissions close15 November 2024
- Release of Report on interested parties’ feedback18 June 2025
- Consultation on Report on interested parties’ feedback18 June to 22 July 2025
- NCC workshop seriesAugust-September 2025
- Release of Draft New Customer Contributions Framework paper14 October 2025
- Consultation on Draft New Customer Contributions Framework paper17 October to 11 November 2025
- New Customer Contributions Framework paperMid 2026
Overview
What are new customer contributions?
Developer charges, also known as new customer contributions (NCCs), are a one‐off, upfront charge that a water business may levy when a new connection is made to its water, sewerage or recycled water network, or when a customer seeks to expand the capacity of an existing connection.
A new customer contribution is a financial payment made to a water business for works that are used or will be able to be used directly or indirectly for the provision of services that will benefit the connecting property, and any fireplugs attached to those works.
Why are we reviewing the new customer contributions framework?
The commission is reviewing the current NCC Framework in 2024-25 to strengthen the way water businesses plan for, calculate and administer NCCs. The review arose due to several issues we observed in relation to the implementation of NCCs.
Consultation Paper: New Customer Contributions Review
On 15 August 2024, we released a consultation paper providing details of these issues.
This paper was open for public feedback between 15 August and 15 November 2024. We met with water businesses and other interested parties during this time.
Report on interested parties’ feedback
This report sets out our response to your feedback on our consultation paper.
We welcomed your views during our consultation period between 18 June and 22 July 2025.
These reports and all public submissions to our review are available in the resources tab.
Feedback on the Draft New Customer Contributions Framework
Following extensive consultation with the water sector and other interested parties during 2024-25, we developed the Draft New Customer Contributions Framework.
The NCC Framework will continue to be guided by three objectives:
- administer new customer contributions in a transparent way
- share the costs and benefits of growth between new and existing customers
- send signals to connection applicants about the costs of developing in different locations.
Have your say
We are now considering all feedback received through workshops, written submissions, and the forums as we finalise the NCC framework.
Consultation remains open on our Draft New Customer Contributions Framework on Engage Victoria until 5pm, 11 November 2025. We welcome further submissions from industry and interested parties.
Forum: presentation on the Draft New Customer Contributions Framework
We have continued engaging with the water industry, developers, and other interested parties as part of our review of Victoria's new customer contribution framework.
During August and September 2025, we ran workshops on engagement, costing and modelling principles to help shape the draft framework.
In September, we invited developers and other interested parties to share their views through our Report on Interested Parties’ Feedback. Their insights provided important perspectives on how the NCCs framework operates in practice and how it can evolve to better support growth and investment.
Building on this feedback, we released our Draft New Customer Contributions Framework, which outlines proposed regulatory arrangements and our expectations for how water businesses will manage NCCs from the 2028 price review onward.
To continue the conversation, we hosted a public online forum on 28 October 2025. The forum was attended by 73 participants from across the sector, including members of the public, representatives from water businesses, developers, and commission staff. The forum provided an opportunity to discuss key updates to the NCC framework and explore practical implementation questions raised during consultation.
A recording of this forum can be accessed below.
Next steps
Feedback received from our consultation period will be incorporated into a final New Customer Contributions Framework, which we will aim to release in December 2025.
In 2026, we will work with the industry to develop case studies and update the NCC modelling templates.
Resources
Draft New Customer Contributions Framework
Report on interested parties’ feedback
Feedback on Report on interested parties’ feedback
Submissions on our consultation paper
We consulted on our consultation paper until 15 November 2024. We received 22 submissions including 5 confidential submissions.
We consider each submission in the next step of our new customer contributions review. See our Submissions Policy for how we approach anonymous and confidential submissions.