Providing feedback about our regulatory work and communication with stakeholders
Stakeholder survey
Overview
The commission conducts an annual stakeholder survey to measure how we are tracking against key objectives in our strategic plan and allows us to identify areas for improvement each year.
The survey program in 2025 conducted independently by SEC Newgate Research included interviews (approximately 30-45 minutes in length) and an online survey (approximately 10-15 minutes in length) undertaken in October 2025.
Improving how we regulate
The stakeholder survey provides information about:
- how we interact with the sectors and communities we serve
- how well we keep stakeholders informed and administer our functions
- our processes and the quality of our decisions.
Maintaining effective engagement
Effective engagement with our stakeholders is critical in our role as Victoria’s regulator of essential services. Our stakeholder engagement framework outlines our charter for engagement and consultation to inform our decisions and regulatory practice.
View our latest stakeholder survey results
We invited over 900 stakeholders to participate in the 2025 combined qualitative (interviews) and quantitative (online) survey to seek feedback and measure stakeholder perceptions across a range of key areas and metrics.
Key findings
30 interviews and 141 online surveys were completed.
The reputation score of 77% (the proportion who gave a score of 7 or more out of 10) was a solid result (up from 69 % in 2024 and 63% in 2023). Further, 72% of stakeholders were satisfied with how the commission performs its functions as a regulator (up from 62% in 2024 and 59% in 2023) and 75% trust the commission to do the right thing by Victorian consumers (up from 73% in 2024 and 68% in 2023).
There was considerable variation in satisfaction across different stakeholder groups, ranging from 91% (amongst Government/regulator/agency representatives) to 56% (amongst the Victorian Energy Upgrade sector).
Key strengths of the commission identified by stakeholders:
- Improved quality of engagement
- Progressive thought leadership with consumers at the heart of decision-making, particularly those experiencing vulnerability
- A reliable organisation, delivering promises and predictable in the way we operate
- Professional and highly respected staff
- A trusted partner on regulatory matters.
We also want to recognise areas where our stakeholders feel we can continue to make improvements by:
- clarifying determination methodologies and considering business impacts of decisions
- increasing transparency regarding decision-making
- developing our regulation and enforcement capabilities
- setting clear expectations
- increasing constructive and collaborative engagement.
Got a question?
Contact us for more information.