ed the respective spheres of influence for various government layers and water sector stakeholders; community involvement is very high and there is a mix of regulatory and economic instruments. In 2005, arrangements were introduced to allow third party access to the provision of water services. As yet there have not been any inset arrangements; it is thought that these would "cherry-pick" the profitable opportunities, placing a strain on the incumbent (public) suppliers. At the local level, corporatisation and privatisation of water undertakings in the urban and irrigation sectors have taken place, which has served to improve the sustainability of the systems. All cities in Australia have water systems now facing problems of deterioration and the impact of urban development, especially on storm and wastewater management. This is in spite of the systems being well managed and maintained. Although Australian per capita consumption has been declining over the last two decades, due to the decline in industrial use and very effective water demand management, this trend has been and continues to be offset by demographic changes. For example, Melbourne's population is expected to grow by more than 1 million in the next 20 years. The country is becoming increasingly urbanised with growth rates of 2% or more, and at the same time the number of households is increasing. As a result, the projected increases in water demand based on four scenarios for 2001-31 indicate that in some cases increases of up to 70% could occur (Birrell, Rapson and Smith, 2005). The expectation is that by 2020 most of the cities will be at full service capacity. INFRASTRUCTURE TO 2030: TELECOM, LAND TRANSPORT, WATER AND ELECTRICITY - ISBN 92-64-02398-4 © OECD 2006 5. THE IMPACTS OF CHANGE ON THE LONG-TERM FUTURE DEMAND FOR WATER SECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE Currently there is a federal fund of some AUD 1.7 billion to finance a "National Water Initiative" and a number of major research programmes, such as the "Water for a Healthy Country" initiative (CSIRO