In August 2025, the AER released its revised Retail Exempt Selling Guideline (version 7), to include a family violence condition and a notification requirement condition. Retail exemption holders that sell energy to residential customers must now provide a family violence policy to residential customers that identify themselves as experiencing family violence. Additionally, retail exemption holders must comply with new notification requirements.

The AER intends to apply these conditions to relevant individual exemptions that were approved before August 2025. Specifically, exemptions granted to individual exemption holders who sell electricity to residential customers will now require the seller to: 

• develop, implement, maintain, and comply with a plain English family violence policy for their exempt customers, and supply this policy to exempt customers who identify themselves as experiencing hardship. 

• notify the AER, within 20 business days, of any revised contact details for the exempt seller’s authorised representative, including their name, email address and telephone number.

The AER may amend the conditions of any exemptions that it has approved. Under the National Energy Retail Rules (Retail Rules), changing a condition is taken to be changing the exemption itself and is subject to the retail consultation process specified in the Retail Rules.

We are now seeking submissions from interested stakeholders on the variation of Blue Aurora Pty Ltd's exemption by Friday 12 December 2025.

Submissions should be emailed to Sarah Pinchuck – Director (a/g), Compliance and Enforcement Branch at AERExemptionsaer [dot] gov [dot] au (AERExemptions[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au) with: ‘Blue Aurora Pty Ltd – variation of individual exemption’ reflected in the email subject title. 

Alternatively, written submissions can also be sent to: 

Sarah Pinchuck
Director (a/g), Compliance and Enforcement
Australian Energy Regulator
GPO Box 3131 
Canberra ACT 2601

The AER prefers that all submissions be sent in an electronic format in Microsoft Word or other text readable document form and publicly available, to facilitate an informed, transparent and robust consultation process. Accordingly, submissions will be treated as public documents and posted on the AER's website, unless prior arrangements are made with the AER to treat the submission, or portions of it, as confidential. Those wishing to submit confidential information are requested to:

• clearly identify the information that is the subject of the confidentiality claim, and
• provide a non-confidential version of the submission.