Whilst the MDBA is a Commonwealth Government agency, an inter-governmental Murray‑Darling Basin Ministerial Council (Ministerial Council) acts in an advisory role in preparing and implementing the Basin Plan by the MDBA. The Ministerial Council comprises the Commonwealth Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources (who also chairs the Council) and one minister from each of the Basin states (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia) and the Australian Capital Territory. The Ministerial Council introduced the Murray-Darling Cap in response to the 1995 report titled "An Audit of Water Use in the Murray-Darling Basin".