Greater Western Water makes court-enforceable commitment to improve family violence processes

The Essential Services Commission has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Greater Western Water, after Greater Western Water admitted it failed to meet its obligations to support customers affected by family violence in 2023.

In providing the enforceable undertaking to the commission, Greater Western Water acknowledged it had contravened the Water Industry Standards in relation to: 

• Its Family and Domestic Violence Policy, which had shortcomings related to the handling of customer information and the circumstances in which debts would be waived.
• Sending a bill to an address not specified by a customer experiencing family violence.

Sending bills to the address specified by a customer is an important protection for customers affected by family violence, particularly where there is, or has been, a joint account. Sending a bill to an address other than the address specified by a customer has the potential to expose account information to a perpetrator of family violence.

Since the alleged contraventions, Greater Western Water has engaged directly with any affected customers to provide information and support, and updated its Family and Domestic Violence Policy, processes and training. As part of a planned replacement of its billing system, it removed the manual process that allowed the billing incident to occur.

Under the court enforceable undertaking, Greater Western Water has committed to a Compliance Improvement Action Plan (to be monitored by the Essential Services Commission) which requires it to, among other things:

• Evaluate and monitor the compliance of its new billing system with the Water Industry Standards.
• Appoint an independent auditor to prepare and provide to the commission a report on its implementation of the Compliance Improvement Action Plan.

You can read the full enforceable undertaking on the Essential Services Commission website now.

Essential Services Commission Chairperson Gerard Brody says that protecting customers experiencing vulnerability, including those who are affected by family violence, is an enduring priority for the commission.

“While Victoria has strong consumer protections in place, businesses still need to be vigilant in ensuring their systems and processes protect customers experiencing family violence.

“Since it self-reported its conduct in August 2023, Greater Western Water has demonstrated a commitment to improving its systems and processes to ensure similar errors do not occur in future, including engaging family violence specialists to review its policy,” Commissioner Brody said.

In April 2024 the commission amended the Water Industry Standards to strengthen family violence provisions. In addition to the requirement to have a family violence policy that promotes customer support and safety, the updated rules require a water business to be accountable for effectively implementing its family violence policy.

“Greater Western Water has now updated and published a new version of its family and domestic violence policy. The commission will continue to closely monitor Greater Western Water’s compliance with its family and domestic violence policy, and the terms of the enforceable undertaking we have accepted,” Commissioner Brody said.

The commission has also recently announced its Safety by Design partnership, a collaboration with key leaders in the prevention of family violence and economic abuse, to develop better practice guides for energy and water businesses. 

The new better practice guides will be available to businesses by February 2025 and will be a definitive guide for energy and water businesses on the safe design of their products and services.

Commissioner Brody added, “if you or someone you know is affected by family violence, please contact your utility provider and ask how they can help you. Water and energy businesses in Victoria are required to protect customer information, ensure access to payment assistance, and provide customers with connections to specialist family violence services.”

Get help 

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call triple zero (000).

If you have a complaint about your water business:

• contact your water business directly — if the issue can’t be resolved at the first point of contact ask for it to be escalated to a more senior manager.
• contact the Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) for a free and informal dispute resolution service if you cannot resolve the issue with your water business yourself.

If you or someone you know is affected by family violence: 

• Are You Safe at Home? provides resources around family violence and where to go for help.
• The national counselling helpline provides confidential information, counselling, and support services. Call 1800 737 732 (1800RESPECT).