Issues Paper - Review of payment difficulty protections in the NECF

On 14 May 2024, we released an issues paper for the review of payment difficulty protections in the National Energy Customer Framework. 

The paper sought feedback on key issues that have been identified through early consultation, preliminary analysis and consumer research, including:

• the effectiveness of existing protections for consumers experiencing payment difficulty, including who is eligible for these protections, what retailers must do to identify, engage with and assist consumers experiencing payment difficulty, and protections to ensure that disconnection is a last resort 
• whether there are opportunities to strengthen protections for consumers experiencing payment difficulty, including opportunities to improve customer engagement so that disconnection is truly a last resort
• the benefits and limitations of other frameworks and approaches, including the Victorian payment difficulty framework and approaches in other sectors
• the costs and benefits of potential changes to the framework, including the impacts of potential changes on retailer costs and the benefits and limitations of harmonising payment difficulty protections across the national energy market.