New guideline to help water businesses to self-report under the Water Industry Standards

The Essential Services Commission has published a new guideline to help water businesses self-report non-compliance with the Water Industry Standards.  

The Water Industry Standards set out the minimum standards that water businesses must meet for key aspects of customer service including billing, payment difficulty support, and limits on debt collection.

Victorian water businesses are required to identify potential and actual non-compliance with the Water Industry Standards, and to report material breaches to the commission.  

The new guideline will help water businesses to decide what matters must be reported to the commission. It contains case studies and practical information about what, and how, water businesses should self-report.  

Timely reporting by water businesses helps to ensure the commission is made aware of critical service issues in a timely way, and therefore able to take action to support better customer outcomes. This helps to strengthen the water consumer protection framework.

As part of the consultation process, the commission considered submissions from key stakeholders on the draft guideline released in August 2024. You can read the submissions to the draft guideline on the Essential Services Commission website now.

In line with its focus on supporting consumers facing vulnerability, the commission also brought together a panel of family violence survivor advocates to inform the development of the guideline and other processes to support reporting. The panel highlighted the importance of staff training, secure handing of account information, and providing timely support to customers affected by family violence. These priorities are reflected in the new guideline.

The guideline comes into effect on 25 October 2024. You can read the final decision and the new guideline on the Essential Services Commission website.