This economic efficiency study seeks to estimate the level and determinants of technical (as opposed to allocative) efficiency in the urban water and wastewater sectors of regional New South and Victoria. To the author's knowledge, it represents the first attempt in the given context using frontier measurement techniques. The main research question relates to the influence of divergent regulatory and governance structures on relative efficiency in the industry. It finds that Victorian utilities are relatively more efficient in terms of both water and wastewater provision, after having controlled for a number of external factors. Furthermore, access to groundwater as a source of water supply, and water consumed per connection, are both found to be positively related to relative efficiency
