The AER has published the final decision from our Review of the minimum disconnection amount. We have decided to increase the minimum disconnection amount from $300 to $500 (including GST), effective from 1 July 2026. The amount applies to both electricity and gas customers.
The minimum disconnection amount is the minimum amount that must be outstanding before a customer can be disconnected for non-payment of a bill, provided that the customer has agreed with their retailer to repay the amount.
From 1 July 2026, the new amount will strengthen minimum disconnection protections in the National Energy Customer Framework, which applies in the ACT, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. The current amount of $300 (including GST) will remain in effect until the end of June next year.
Our final decision follows consultation on a draft decision published on 15 May 2025. We received 14 formal submissions and 2 informal (verbal) submissions.
While some stakeholders argued against increasing the amount, we have made the increase to reduce the risk of consumer harm from disconnection, given changes in electricity costs and inflation since the current amount was set in 2012.
Other stakeholders advocated for a higher increase to better reflect the circumstances of customers experiencing payment difficulty. However, the amount is intended as a minimum protection for all customers. Customers experiencing payment difficulty and hardship have more targeted protections.
Regardless of the amount outstanding, energy retailers have a legal obligation to ensure disconnection is only used as a last resort for customers experiencing payment difficulties due to hardship. Given these other protections, increasing the minimum disconnection amount further at this stage would unjustifiably increase the risk of higher debt levels that could result in higher costs for all customers.
The new amount of $500 is reflective of today’s average estimated quarterly electricity bill. We will monitor relevant data, including retail performance data on the assistance gap, debt levels and disconnection rates, to determine when to review the minimum disconnection amount in future.
With this final decision, we are delivering on action 10 of our Towards energy equity strategy, as well as an opportunity we identified in our Review of payment difficulty protections in the NECF.
We continue to advocate for broader changes to strengthen engagement obligations, assistance standards and disconnection protections, including more targeted protections for customers experiencing payment difficulty.
If you have any questions, please contact the AER’s Consumer Policy team at ConsumerPolicy
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (ConsumerPolicy[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au).