CAM Engineering and Construction Pty Ltd (CAM Engineering) has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay a penalty of $250,000 for breaching the National Energy Retail Law (Retail Law) by failing to join the Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) scheme.
In court proceedings brought by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), the Federal Court found that CAM Engineering breached section 112(2) of the Retail Law by failing to join EWON between 11 March 2021 and 21 July 2022.
By failing to join EWON, CAM Engineering’s energy consumers did not have access to the important dispute resolution service that EWON provides for a period of 16 months.
As the developer of the Cooranbong Gardens Retirement Village in NSW, CAM Engineering held an exemption to sell and supply electricity to residents of the village through an embedded network. CAM Engineering obtained its retail exemption on 11 March 2021, but did not join EWON until 22 July 2022, despite multiple reminders and warnings from EWON and the AER.
In her judgment, Justice Derrington said: “In circumstances where I have found that CAM’s conduct, persisting as it did over a period of 16 months, was at least reckless, if not deliberate… a penalty of some magnitude is warranted to deter other operators of retirement villages from ignoring their legal and regulatory obligations.”
AER Deputy Chair Mr Justin Oliver said the Court’s decision was a critical reminder of the importance of every energy consumer being offered the protections they are entitled to under energy laws and rules.
“We expect exempt sellers to fully comply with the conditions set out in the AER’s Retail Exempt Selling Guideline and provide their customers with the fundamental protections they are entitled to,” said Mr Oliver.
Justice Derrington also noted: “…it is of significant importance that operators of retirement villages, which are often populated by more vulnerable members of the community, understand that compliance with their legal obligations is neither a matter of discretion nor a matter to be prioritised below the day-to-day operations of the business.”
Following a referral from EWON and subsequent investigation, the AER issued CAM Engineering with an infringement notice for the alleged breach. The AER instituted proceedings after CAM Engineering did not pay the penalty specified in the infringement notice.
In addition to the penalty, the Court ordered CAM Engineering to write to each affected customer to inform them of its failure to be a member of EWON and their rights to make complaints to EWON, including any complaints that arose between 11 March 2021 and 21 July 2022.
Notes to Editors
Judgment
The penalty decision was handed down on 4 July 2025. A copy can be found on the Federal Court website.
Background
Following a referral from Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) and subsequent investigation, the AER issued CAM Engineering with an infringement notice for the alleged breach. CAM Engineering did not pay the penalty specified in the infringement notice.
Following this, the AER instituted proceedings against CAM Engineering in the Federal Court on 19 October 2023.
On 7 June 2024, CAM Engineering conceded liability. On 4 July 2024, the parties filed joint submissions on liability and agreed non-monetary relief relating to the allegation.
On 13 January 2025, CAM Engineering’s retail and network exemptions for the embedded network at the Cooranbong Gardens Retirement Village were transferred to a new entity.
Infringement notices
The AER can issue an infringement notice where it has reasonable grounds to believe a person or business has contravened certain provisions of the Retail Law.
The person or business can choose to comply with the infringement notice by paying the penalty specified in the notice. Alternatively, they are entitled to disregard the infringement notice and to defend any legal proceedings that are subsequently commenced by the AER in respect of the alleged breach.
The payment of an infringement notice does not constitute an admission of liability by the person or business.
Embedded networks
Embedded networks are private electricity networks that can serve multiple customers.
In most cases, the embedded network owner and/or operator buys energy from an energy retailer and on-sells it to the occupants of the site.
The AER regulates who can own, operate and/or control embedded networks and on-sell energy within them.
We govern the exemptions framework through our Network Exemption Guideline and Retail Exempt Selling Guideline. These Guidelines impose conditions that are designed to protect customers supplied through embedded networks, including the requirement for exempt sellers to join their jurisdictions’ energy ombudsman scheme.