About the community of practice
We established the Community of Practice on Consumer Vulnerability when we were developing our Towards energy equity strategy. The community of practice is an informal, collaborative forum that seeks to enhance regulatory approaches to consumer vulnerability across sectors.
It provides a supportive environment for regulatory staff to share experiences and insights from their efforts to better understand and support people experiencing vulnerability, including vulnerability that arises from individual circumstances (such as low income or experiences of disability or family violence) as well as vulnerability that arises due to characteristics of regulated markets (such as complexity).
Members agreed on a charter for the community of practice in 2025.
Charter
The community of practice is an informal, collaborative forum that seeks to enhance regulatory approaches to consumer vulnerability across sectors.
Membership
The community of practice is designed to be cross-sectoral and cross-jurisdictional. Membership is open to interested staff from Australian regulatory agencies and relevant statutory bodies.
Current members are:
- Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
- Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC)
- Australian Energy Regulator (AER)
- Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA)
- Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
- Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV)
- Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA)
- Essential Services Commission Victoria (ESCV)
- National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA)
- Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner
If you are interested in joining the community of practice, email ConsumerPolicy
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (ConsumerPolicy[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au).