Greater Western Water (previously City West Water area) outcomes reporting

On 1 July 2021, City West Water and Western Water integrated to form Greater Western Water. Greater Western Water’s 2018–23 regulatory period was extended by one year to address the business merge – accordingly, it extended its outcome commitments for the previously City West Water area by one year to cover 2023-24.

This page summarises Greater Western Water (previously City West Water area)'s performance against its outcomes, measures, and targets for the regulatory period 2018–23 and the 2023-24 extension year. 

More details are available on our outcomes reporting page, and on Greater Western Water's website.

What are outcomes?

Water businesses are accountable to their customers for delivering the outcomes set out in their price submissions, under our PREMO water pricing framework. Each business is required to report at least annually to its customers on:

• its performance against the specified measures and targets for each outcome
• an overall assessment of whether it has delivered on expectations for each outcome, including the business’s explanation for any performance shortfalls and how it intends to address them.

We have requested businesses also provide us with a summary outcome report document using a standard template. The self-assessments use a simple “traffic light” rating: 

• green = achieved target
• amber = mostly achieved target
• red = failed to achieve target.

2024 water price review

We have completed our review of the maximum prices that Greater Western Water can charge for services provided to its customers from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2028.

Greater Western Water submitted its proposed prices on 29 September 2023. 

We assessed the proposal against a legal framework established by the Victorian Government and set out in the Water Industry Regulatory Order, and the commission’s PREMO pricing framework.

Read more on Greater Western Water's outcome commitments as part of our 2024 price review.

Greater Western Water (previously City West Water area)'s self-assessment against outcomes in 2023–24

Outcome	Self-assessment
Services to my home and business are safe, reliable and efficiently managed	Mostly achieved target
Customer service is accessible and my enquiries are resolved promptly	Mostly achieved target
Billing and payment options are efficient and convenient	Failed to achieve target
Customers in hardship are supported	Mostly achieved target
The whole of the water cycle is managed in an environmentally sustainable way	Achieved target
CWW is a valued partner in servicing a growing Melbourne	Mostly achieved target
Overall	Mostly achieved target

Our observations on its 2023–24 performance

Greater Western Water’s (previously City West Water area) self-assessment is reasonable. Its report explains its performance in 2023-24, including explanations for performance shortfalls. It reported it did not meet its Outcome 3 commitment ‘billing and payment options are efficient and convenient’ for the last three years and overall for the regulatory period, and did not meet its targets for its ‘number of payment issue complaints’ measure and its ‘percentage of estimated meter reads used for billing’ measure. Greater Western Water has faced technical issues implementing its new billing system, which caused billing delays for many of its customers across both its former City West Water and Western Water areas. Greater Western Water stated that performance against this outcome ‘has been significantly impacted by increasing cost-of-living pressures’. Its performance results are featured on the homepage of its website, showing ownership of its outcome commitments and accountability for its performance.

Greater Western Water (previously City West Water area)'s overall self-assessment across 2018-24

Outcome			18-19	19-20	20-21	21-22	22-23	23-24	Overall outcome rating
1. Services to my home and business are safe, reliable and efficiently managed			Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target
2. Customer service is accessible and my enquiries are resolved promptly			Achieved target	Achieved target	Achieved target	Achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Achieved target
3. Billing and payment options are efficient and convenient			Achieved target	Achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Failed to achieve target	Failed to achieve target	Failed to achieve target	Failed to achieve target
4. Customers in hardship are supported			Achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Achieved target	Achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target
5. The whole of the water cycle is managed in an environmentally sustainable way			Achieved target	Achieved target	Achieved target	Achieved target	Achieved target	Achieved target	Achieved target
6. CWW is a valued partner in servicing a growing Melbourne			Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Achieved target	Achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target
Annual rating			Achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target	Mostly achieved target