Submission to the Australian Energy Market Commission on the Draft Determination on Strengthening Standards for Payment Difficulty Assistance

Energy Consumers Australia (ECA) supports the Australian Energy Market Commission’s final rule to strengthen protections for customers experiencing payment difficulty. The reforms would prevent retailers from requiring documentary evidence for payment plans or hardship support and require payment arrangements to reflect a customer’s capacity to pay.

ECA recommends a small change to the rule to make capacity to pay the primary consideration when assessing affordability, rather than allowing accumulated arrears to outweigh what a customer can reasonably afford. If payments do not cover ongoing energy use, retailers should provide additional assistance, such as concession checks, energy-efficiency support and debt relief.

The reforms are timely as energy debt and electricity disconnections continue to rise. ECA estimates disconnections impose annual societal costs of $207 million, while avoiding them could save $186 million each year.

ECA also encourages retailers to use available data and technology to identify emerging hardship earlier and offer proactive assistance before debt becomes unmanageable.

Read more in our submission (PDF, 328.47KB).