The Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations has announced legal action, commencing in the Federal Court on Monday, to challenge the decision by federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to accredit the NSW Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan.

MLDRIN, a confederation of First Nations from the southern half of the Murray-Darling Basin, brought the action to ensure that governments, their agencies and processes "do not skim over First Nations' rights for the sake of expediency", the group said on Friday.

The group will argue that the Federal Water Minister's accreditation of the NSW Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan, and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's (MDBA) recommendation that it be accredited, was unlawful.

MLDRIN says these accreditation and recommendation decisions were unlawful because the affected First Nations were not consulted as required by the Basin Plan 2012, an instrument of the Water Act 2007 (Cth), and that consultation failures mean that Nations' social, spiritual and cultural values, as well as their uses of the water resources, were not properly considered when the Fractured Rock WRP was prepared.

The group said the MDBA recommended the Minister accredit the WRP despite MLDRIN's advice that it was not compliant with the Basin Plan. MLDRIN's advice was prepared at the request of the Commonwealth Government, specifically to support the accreditation process.

MLDRIN chair, Tati Tati Nation member Brendan Kennedy, said the organisation "repeatedly advised the MDBA that the Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan should not be recommended for accreditation".

"Some Nations, including my own, were not consulted at all. Some other Nations that were consulted did not feel they were consulted properly," he said.

"Despite being aware of this, the MDBA recommended to the Minister that she accredit the plan, and the Minister just ticked a box. We are here… to get justice for First Nations and show the government, and the other authorities responsible for making recommendations that impact our lives, that they need to comply with the law."

MLDRIN has also asked the Court to find the Minister's decision was unlawful because the Minister did not have the proposed WRP in front of her, nor did she read it, before accrediting the plan.

MLDRIN deputy chair Grant Rigney said the sequence of events were "shameful".

"It shows how little both the NSW and Federal government care about First Nations peoples' values and uses in the Basin Plan process," he said.

"The NSW government left some Nations out of the consultation process. As the final decision maker, the Federal Water Minister must ensure that WRPs are lawful in all aspects prior to accreditation.

"We hope that the Court will send a powerful message that this tick a box approach is simply not good enough."

National Indigenous Times contacted Minister Plibersek and NSW water minister Rose Jackson for comment.

A spokesperson for the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water told National Indigenous Times the department understands that the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations has filed and served an application for judicial review in the Federal Court in relation to the accreditation of the NSW Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan.

"The Commonwealth, the Murray Darling Basin Authority and The State of New South Wales are named as respondents. As this matter is before the Federal Court, it would not be appropriate to comment further," they said.

MLDRIN is a confederation of Southern Basin Nations that advocates for First Nations' water rights and justice at the direction of its membership. It is the only self-determined community controlled water justice collective in the Murray Darling Basin.