Code of Conduct for Marketing Retail Energy

We are proposing to consolidate key provisions from the marketing code into the new Energy Retail Code of Practice, and then repeal the marketing code.

The code applies to:

• all domestic consumers 
• small business consumers who consume less than 40MWh of electricity per year
• small business consumers who consume less than 1000GJ of gas per year. 

The code aims to: 

• protect consumers
• promote consumer confidence in the retail energy industry by identifying high standards of behaviour for marketing energy
• promote honesty, fairness and disclosure of information to consumers
• enhance efficient retail market operation by clarifying standards and promoting certainty
• reinforce that energy retail contracts are made with informed customer consent.

We reviewed some aspects of the code in 2008

In our regulatory instruments review 2008, we concluded that there is still a need for some level of energy-specific market conduct regulation, specifically relating to: 

• training and product knowledge
• the maintenance of no contact lists for door-to-door marketing
• information required for explicit informed consent.

As part of this review, we proposed: 

• repealing sections of the code of conduct that directly duplicate the Fair Trading Act 1999 or are no longer considered necessary in the Victorian energy market 
• rationalise the consent and cooling-off provisions.