COTA Australia sees energy as an essential service, and access to it should never be dictated by a household’s ability to pay. We believe it is vital that the reform of the NECF prioritises the well-being of consumers, ensuring their access to energy to safeguard their health and wellbeing. Any consideration of the financial impact on retailing businesses should only come after these consumer protections are secured.
In August 2024, COTA Australia contributed to a community and consumer submission ably coordinated and prepared by the Justice and Equity Centre . The submission was in response to the Australian Energy Regulator’s (AER) review of payment difficulty protections under the National Energy Customer Framework (NECF).
The joint submission calls for significant reform, and highlights where the current NECF fails to meet the needs of energy consumers, particularly those experiencing financial and/or social disadvantage. In its present form, the NECF is demonstrated to be experienced as not adequately preventing payment difficulties, nor offering sufficient protection when such difficulties arise. Plus, the NECF current design is informed and guided by the common misconception that payment difficulties are mostly short-term. However, as referenced in the submission, an abundance of national and state/territory-based research refutes this position by illustrating that the multiple challenges faced by consumers are often much more prolonged and harmful.
The submission contains 14 recommendations – the principal ask being for the AER to develop a broader definition of energy payment difficulty and consideration of a more effective protections framework. The revised framework would therefore need to include measures which more effectively identify and respond to hidden payment difficulty, as well as minimise the incidence of payment difficulty.
Overall, the agreed position promoted in the submission is that the proposed framework’s design would enable these measures to be transparently monitored, with the onus on energy retailers to demonstrate they have fulfilled their duty of care and undertaken all possible actions to deliver intended good consumer outcomes.
Our advocacy continues to push for a fairer energy system that ensures everyone can access the energy they need, regardless of financial and personal circumstances.
