Water access licence inquiries
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What information will I get from a Certificate of Title (CT) location inquiry?
The Real Property Amendment (Certificates of Title) Act 2021 (NSW) abolished paper certificates of title (CT). For CTs, real property title reference information retrieved through the location inquiry should not be relied upon without conducting further checks.
For CTs:
- Physical delivery and controlling party information are now redundant.
- Edition number of the CT may not be a true sign of a transaction on the Folio of the Register.
The CT location inquiry – Water Access Licence (WAL) will provide you with the following information:
- current edition number
- last delivery (physical location) details.
Information provided about water access licences in this search is unaffected and remains current.
What format should I use for a CT location inquiry – Water Access Licence (WAL)?
You need a valid WAL reference to complete a location inquiry. A WAL reference is the letters ‘WAL’ followed by one to eight numbers (for example, WAL123 or WAL12345678).
How do I receive my result for a location inquiry?
The result displays immediately and is available in your Confirm inbox. You can also choose to receive your result via email.
To access your Confirm inbox, follow the links in the Confirm header. You can revisit your result anytime within 28 days without incurring an extra cost.
For more information on how to use your Confirm inbox, visit our Getting started page.
What is a Certificate Authentication Code (CAC)?
The Certificate Authentication Code (CAC) is an item of information that is on all new editions of WALs printed at NSW Land Registry Services. A CAC is a randomly generated number that acts as a unique document identifier to deter and prevent fraud.
You can verify it online through the CAC inquiry.
What information will I get from a CAC inquiry – WAL?
Anyone with a WAL can use the code to verify:
- details match those of the latest edition issued
- it is likely to be genuine.
The CAC inquiry will assist to verify the authenticity of the WAL by returning a result stating one of the following:
- Code is authenticated and okay.
- Code entered for that particular licence reference matched successfully with the licence details you provided.
- Information you entered doesn’t match the details held for this licence reference.
- Licence details are okay, but the code doesn’t match.
- Daily code check limit exceeded.
Verification requests against the same WAL reference are limited to ten per day to prevent hacking attacks.
The Real Property Amendment (Certificates of Title) Act 2021 (NSW) abolished paper certificates of title (CT). For CTs, CACs no longer have valid verification.
Information provided about WALs in this search is unaffected and remains current.
What search criteria should I enter for a CAC inquiry – WAL?
| Name | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Water access licence reference | Top right-hand corner of your licence. |
| Edition number | Top right-hand corner of your licence. Whenever a new edition for a particular licence is printed, a fresh code generates.
The CAC inquiry validates only the most recently issued edition of the licence. |
| Issue date | Top right-hand corner of your licence. Enter this in ddmmyyyy format (for example, 01122003). |
| First owner name | First registered proprietor name on the licence. |
| CAC | Top right-hand corner of your licence. Please enter it as XXXX-XX-XXXX with letters and numbers (for example, VM3Z-JE-HZ6R).
Dashes are optional. |
Ensure that you enter the licence details (WAL reference, edition number, issue date, first owner name and CAC) as they appear on the printed licence.
Take care when entering long and/or foreign first owner names or those that include punctuation.
Are CAC inquiry results stored in your Confirm inbox?
No, to enhance the security of the code verification process, results aren’t available in your Confirm inbox.
Can’t find what you’re looking for?
Our Customer Service Centre is here to help you between 8:00 am – 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
| Phone | 1800 773 773 |
| confirm@citec.com.au |
For more information on how to search, view our NSW land searches user guide.
