Greater Western Water Enforceable Undertaking 2025

The Essential Services Commission has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Greater Western Water Corporation (Greater Western Water). Greater Western Water has acknowledged multiple breaches of the Water Industry Standard – Urban Customer Service (WIS) and consequently section 4F(6) of the Water Industry Act 1994 (Vic) (Water Industry Act).

Under the enforceable undertaking, Greater Western Water will:

• Write off $75m in unbilled charges from calendar year 2024, for approximately 166,000 customer accounts.
• Provide $10m worth of credits to approximately 125,000 customer accounts ($80 per customer) as customer relief for bills issued more than seven months apart in 2024.
• Provide an estimated $39m worth of credits to approximately 210,000 customer accounts in customer relief for bills issued late in 2025/26 (between $80 and $240 per customer, depending on the length of delay).
• Not issue any bill (except in respect of a credit or zero-dollar amount) to any residential or small business customer, or seek to retain or recover any payment, for any charges incurred for the period January 2025 to June 2026, if billed more than 12 months from the end of the quarterly usage period in question.
• Provide $5.6m worth of credits to approximately 70,000 customer accounts ($80 per customer) in redress for suspending the availability of direct debit in full.
• Complete independent reviews of its communication and hardship processes and undertake other compliance improvement and customer communication initiatives.