Our 2026–27 Regulatory Priorities sets out how our work will respond to the changing environment and needs of Victorian consumers and regulated businesses.
We will deliver on our four strategic plan domains – Efficient Pricing, Equitable Services, Resilience and Sustainability, and Integrity and Trust.
Our work will include:
Providing fair prices for consumers in setting the Victorian Default and Midday Power Saver offers.
Efficiently administering the Victorian Energy Upgrades program to support improved energy efficiency for households and businesses, including embedding the new insulation activity.
Enhancing and making clearer consumer protections in the Energy Retail Code of Practice, including developing and releasing guidance on the requirement to act fairly and reasonably.
Preparing for the 2028 water price reviews for 16 water businesses through updated guidance and undertaking our five-yearly assessment of Port of Melbourne’s compliance with its pricing order.
Continuing to enhance the way that we listen and communicate with consumers, industry and other interested parties.
Taking action to address practices that exacerbate cost of living pressures.
Holding businesses accountable when they fail to provide consumers experiencing vulnerability with fair and equitable access to essential services.
Deterring conduct that increases the likelihood and impact of harm to customers affected by family violence.
Addressing conduct that compromises market integrity.
Focussing on conduct that impacts Victoria’s First Nations people.
Read more about our key work and compliance and enforcement priority focus areas by sector for the year ahead in our Regulatory Priorities 2026–27.
Updated Getting to Fair strategy to improve access to essential services
To support our focus on Equitable Services, we have released our Getting to Fair: Advancing Equity strategy to improve how Victorians experience and access essential services, particularly where existing systems and practices create barriers for consumers.
The strategy builds on the work of our original Getting to Fair 2021–2024 strategy which focussed on removing barriers to accessing essential services for consumers experiencing vulnerability.
The updated strategy reflects our view that fairness and equity are central considerations in economic regulation and in promoting the long-term interests of consumers. It also broadens the focus from individual vulnerability to the structural and system-level factors that can cause or worsen inequity over time.
Efficiency, well-functioning markets and effective regulation remain core foundations to our work. Advancing Equity recognises that they are strengthened when essential services are accessible and trusted in practice, and supports our vision of fair and dependable essential services for all Victorians, today and tomorrow.
It is particularly important as Victoria navigates major transitions, including decarbonisation, digitalisation and new ways of delivering services. These changes can bring benefits, but they can also worsen inequity and cost-of-living pressures if fairness and equity are not built in from the start.
Our strategy has been developed with the knowledge and perspectives of those across the sectors we regulate, as well as consumer and community representatives, First Nations interest holders, experts and the wider community.
First Nations Self-Determination Framework
Our First Nations Self-Determination Frameworkis the first flagship framework to be released as part of our Advancing Equity strategy. The framework aims to improve how First Nations people access, engage with and benefit from the essential services we regulate, while ensuring First Nations perspectives are better reflected in our work and decision-making.
Each year, we will set out priority actions in our regulatory priorities. Priority actions in 2026–27 will focus on three areas:
Business conduct – how regulated businesses treat consumers in practice.
System-level responses – looking beyond individual cases to address underlying settings that drive outcomes.
Regulatory inclusion – ensuring regulatory approaches reflect the needs and experiences of diverse consumers.
