In line with standard practice, our Urban Planning and Development team will have staff operating during the holiday period to ensure priority planning and development applications are progressed.

We will continue to fulfil our statutory obligations by receiving permit applications throughout this period.

Year-end invoicing and accounts payable

Our accounts department is closed from Thursday 25 December and reopens on Monday 5 January 2026. Any payments received within this timeframe will not be processed until we return.

To ensure all invoices are processed and prepared for payment before the end of the year, please submit invoices to [email protected] no later than Thursday 18 December.

We have a strict 'No PO, No Pay' policy. To ensure your goods or services are authorised and payments are processed on time, please:

• request a Purchase Order from us before commencing any work, and
• clearly reference the Purchase Order on all invoices submitted to us.

Timely and accurate submission of invoices will allow Melbourne Water’s accounts payable team to finalise payments before the holiday period.

Remittance advice email address

Please note that system-generated remittance advices from Melbourne Water will now be sent from the following email address: [email protected]

This is a legitimate Melbourne Water email address. To ensure you receive these important notifications, and they are not quarantined or sent to your spam folder, please check with your IT team to whitelist them or take any other necessary steps to receive them in your system.

Key achievements

We’d like to take this opportunity to celebrate some of the year’s innovations and improvements that have strengthened our services and supported better outcomes for the development industry community.

We’ve:

• Updated key templates and guidance documents to improve clarity on Melbourne Water’s requirements to improve usability and streamline submissions, reducing delays.
• Established a dedicated team in late 2024 to eliminate a backlog of permit applications and lift service performance in 2025
• Introduced new service standards that align our statutory obligations with customer expectations – since launching in March, we’ve exceeded our 90% service target each month.
• Continued delivering elements of the Decision-Making Policy and Procedure (DMPP) Framework, ensuring clearer, more consistent internal processes that strengthen compliance and service standards:
  • Released the Statutory Referral Subdivision Manual and standardised conditions for DSS-related referrals to improve consistency across the UPD planning function.
  • Introduced flexible online application pathways, streamlined workflows, and updated industry and council guidance to support requests for Changes to DSS and its assets, as well as statutory Planning Permit Amendment referrals.
• We’re identifying flood-free growth areas in activity centres by undertaking a $40 million program to update flood models across all catchments in the Port Phillip and Westernport region.

Find out more

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] or phone 131 722.

Thank you for the feedback on our services and programs that have informed these improvements. We will continue to make further improvements and service refinements in 2026.

From the team at Melbourne Water, wishing you and your family a safe and happy holiday season!