Overview
The AER is undertaking a review of payment difficulty protections in the National Energy Customer Framework (NECF).
In our Towards energy equity strategy, we committed to consider whether improvements can be made to the framework to ensure that consumers experiencing payment difficulty receive effective, tailored assistance. This review aims to identify whether change is needed to ensure that consumers experiencing payment difficulty are proactively identified, engaged early and supported appropriately with assistance that is tailored to their individual circumstances.
We will explore the case for change by considering:
- the effectiveness of current protections
- the gaps, failures and unintended consequences of the current framework
- the effectiveness of other potential approaches, drawing on learnings from other frameworks (such as the Victorian payment difficulty framework).
Through this review, we are also considering the consumer energy debt threshold for disconnection and opportunities to improve engagement so that disconnection is truly a last resort.
We will assess the opportunities to strengthen protections and improve outcomes for consumers experiencing payment difficulty by:
- identifying potential improvements to the current framework
- considering the implementation requirements for potential changes
- canvassing the costs and benefits of potential changes.
The findings of this analysis will be published in a report that explores the case for change and sets out recommended next steps, with this report expected to be released in late 2024.
Background
In October 2022, we launched Towards energy equity – a strategy for an inclusive energy market. Our strategy seeks to tackle the enduring issues that prevent people from getting what they need from Australia’s energy system.
The review of payment difficulty protections is action 8 from the strategy. We are also considering and consulting on actions 9 and 10 from the strategy in this review.