The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) is the national energy regulator and an independent statutory authority funded by the Commonwealth. The AER exists so that energy consumers are better off, now and in the future.
Role of the AER
Consumers are at the heart of our work, and we focus on ensuring a secure, reliable and affordable energy future for Australia.
We regulate wholesale and retail energy markets, and energy networks, under national energy legislation and rules. Our functions relate mostly to energy markets in eastern and southern Australia.
Further information about the AER can be found on this website and in the AER Strategic Plan 2020–25.
The purpose of our Service Charter
This Service Charter sets out the standard of service you can expect to receive from the AER. The charter aims to ensure that we:
- focus on service delivery
- measure and assess performance
- initiate performance improvement
We review our service charter regularly to make sure it accurately reflects our current service standards.
What we can help with
Seeking assistance from the AER
We can help you with information about:
- our EnergyMadeEasy website (getting a better energy deal)
- our role in administering retail authorisations, retail exemptions and network exemptions (permissions for businesses to supply and sell energy)
- our functions relating to the wholesale, network and retail energy markets (how we regulate businesses to make sure they comply with the energy law and rules).
Reporting a problem with an energy business
We encourage you to share information with us about problems in the energy market or issues you have experienced with an energy business.
Your information helps us build our intelligence about business practices and individual traders and to understand what issues cause the most harm to Australians. This helps us to make strategic decisions about where best to use our resources and ensure that we direct them to matters that are likely to provide the greatest overall benefit for competition and consumers.
What we can’t do
Please understand it is not our role to act on behalf of consumers or businesses to resolve their individual disputes with businesses or organisations, although our web site includes some useful information to help you resolve these disputes.
We also cannot act on behalf of individual consumers or businesses to resolve their complaints with energy businesses or organisations (except for specific network connection disputes). We also cannot provide legal advice or make determinations on whether a breach of the law or rules has occurred in your circumstances.
If you are unhappy with your electricity or gas service, there are some simple steps included on our EnergyMadeEasy website to help you resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
The first step is to contact the energy business. You can find their contact details on your bill. If your problem is still unresolved, you can then contact the energy ombudsman in your state or territory. Energy ombudsman schemes are independent bodies that provide free guidance to customers to help them resolve problems with energy businesses.
An energy ombudsman can assist you with disputed accounts, difficulty paying energy bills, disconnections, marketing and selling practices and poor customer service.
Contact details for energy retailers, distributors and the energy ombudsman scheme in your state or territory are available on our EnergyMadeEasy website.
Our service level goals
We will provide you with a courteous, professional and quality service. Our staff will be respectful in their interactions with you and act in a fair and transparent manner. They will also identify themselves when you contact the AER and will speak to you in plain English. You can also contact us through a Telephone Interpreter service.
When you contact us in relation to the items set out in this charter, we have two key service level goals:
Written enquiries
Where you contact us by email to AERInquiry
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (AERInquiry[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au), letter or directly to AER staff and you request a response, we aim to provide a response to you within 15 business days, noting that complex issues may take additional time.
We do receive information from people simply providing us with information, which helps us build our intelligence about business practices, better understand what issues are of concern to energy consumers and to utilise our resources more efficiently. In that instance, we will record details but may not provide a response.
Telephone enquiries
We aim to answer your query on the first contact. Sometimes, we may need to seek further information to provide you with the help you are seeking. On these occasions, we will take your details and arrange to contact you back as soon as possible. In these instances, our goal is to provide an accurate response within 15 days.
Confidentiality
We respect your right to privacy and confidentiality when contacting us. If you give us information we will use this in accordance with the law and the ACCC/AER information policy.
Providing feedback on our service
As we seek to continuously improve our service standards, we welcome your feedback, compliments or suggestions on how we dealt with you or used your information. If you are dissatisfied with our conduct or if we have not met the standards outlined in this service charter, we recommend you try to resolve the issue with the staff member, their supervisor or manager in the first instance.
If you are not satisfied after taking these steps, write to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), via email to aerinquiryaer [dot] gov [dot] au (aerinquiry[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au), attention: AER CEO.
If you are not satisfied with the response provided by the CEO, you can contact the Commonwealth Ombudsman on 1300 362 072 or via www.ombudsman.gov.au.
Freedom of Information queries
See Freedom of Information requests for information on the ACCC's freedom of information processes.
How to contact us
For options on how to contact us see 'get in touch'.