On 20 October 2022, we published our Towards energy equity – a strategy for an inclusive energy market. It’s an ambitious, forward-thinking strategy that attempts to tackle some of the enduring issues that prevent people from getting what they need from Australia’s energy system.

The Towards energy equity strategy aims to help reduce barriers to participation, support consumers experiencing payment difficulty, ensure the consumer voice is heard in sector reforms and improve affordability by reducing the cost to serve energy consumers. The strategy represents an enormous opportunity to design effective actions that benefit consumers, consumer-facing energy businesses, and the system more broadly so consumers can feel confident that Australia’s transitioning energy sector is working for them.

With the publication of the strategy, we also published our Lived Consumer Experience research. In May 2022, we engaged by Bastion Insights to form a community of consumers with lived experience of vulnerability in the energy market. Experience ranged from being unable to exercise choice or pay their bill, having entered a hardship program or experienced disconnection for non-payment, or having had difficulty engaging with a consumer-facing energy business in their preferred way.

The research undertaken by Bastion insights helped us deepen our understanding of the lived experience of consumers and support the Towards energy equity strategy.