Annual Report 2021/2022
Welcome to our 2021/2022 Annual Report. The theme of the report is Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow, reflecting EWON’s commitment to acting now, to ensure we continue to shape the energy and water sectors for the benefit of our members and customers in the future.
We received 14,676 complaints, down 9% from last year. The fall in complaints in the past two years can be strongly attributed to COVID-19 lockdowns across the state and the introduction of the AER Statement of Expectations in March 2020. This prevented disconnection, debt collection and credit default listing for customers who had been financially impacted by the pandemic.
Read highlights from our 2021/2022 Annual Report below or download the full report.
- 2021/2022 at a glance
- Complaints by issue
- Complaints by sector
- Complaints by area
Highlights from 2021/2022
- The release of our Spotlight On report on Hot Water Embedded Networks led to our expertise being sought by the NSW Office of Energy and Climate Change, AER, Channel 10 News and NSW Legislative Assembly committee.
- Through our systemic issues work we identified complaints where we believed Origin Energy actions were at odds with the AER’s Hardship Guideline. Following an AER investigation, the Federal Court ordered Origin Energy to pay a record $17 million penalty for breaching laws and regulations designed to protect customers in financial difficulty. Without our complaint handling and systemic issues work, this may not have been identified and brought to the attention of the AER.
- We progressed our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan by introducing Cultural Protocols training for new employees and prioritising purchasing EWON’s collateral through Aboriginal-owned businesses. We also engaged Mirri Mirri, an Aboriginal-owned cultural awareness training provider to educate all EWON staff and Board members.
The data in this Report is drawn from complaints received during the 2021/2022 financial year, unless otherwise specified. EWON’s open complaint data varies in accordance with complaint progression, and figures in this Report reflect complaint status on 11 July 2022.
We open one complaint when a customer contacts us but they often experience more than one complaint issue, such as a high bill and poor customer service, meaning the number of complaint issues is greater than the number of complaints we receive.
Highlights from 2021/2022
- The release of our Spotlight On report on Hot Water Embedded Networks led to our expertise being sought by the NSW Office of Energy and Climate Change, AER, Channel 10 News and NSW Legislative Assembly committee.
- Through our systemic issues work we identified complaints where we believed Origin Energy actions were at odds with the AER’s Hardship Guideline. Following an AER investigation, the Federal Court ordered Origin Energy to pay a record $17 million penalty for breaching laws and regulations designed to protect customers in financial difficulty. Without our complaint handling and systemic issues work, this may not have been identified and brought to the attention of the AER.
- We progressed our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan by introducing Cultural Protocols training for new employees and prioritising purchasing EWON’s collateral through Aboriginal-owned businesses. We also engaged Mirri Mirri, an Aboriginal-owned cultural awareness training provider to educate all EWON staff and Board members.
The data in this Report is drawn from complaints received during the 2021/2022 financial year, unless otherwise specified. EWON’s open complaint data varies in accordance with complaint progression, and figures in this Report reflect complaint status on 11 July 2022.
We open one complaint when a customer contacts us but they often experience more than one complaint issue, such as a high bill and poor customer service, meaning the number of complaint issues is greater than the number of complaints we receive.
Highlights from 2021/2022
- The release of our Spotlight On report on Hot Water Embedded Networks led to our expertise being sought by the NSW Office of Energy and Climate Change, AER, Channel 10 News and NSW Legislative Assembly committee.
- Through our systemic issues work we identified complaints where we believed Origin Energy actions were at odds with the AER’s Hardship Guideline. Following an AER investigation, the Federal Court ordered Origin Energy to pay a record $17 million penalty for breaching laws and regulations designed to protect customers in financial difficulty. Without our complaint handling and systemic issues work, this may not have been identified and brought to the attention of the AER.
- We progressed our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan by introducing Cultural Protocols training for new employees and prioritising purchasing EWON’s collateral through Aboriginal-owned businesses. We also engaged Mirri Mirri, an Aboriginal-owned cultural awareness training provider to educate all EWON staff and Board members.
The data in this Report is drawn from complaints received during the 2021/2022 financial year, unless otherwise specified. EWON’s open complaint data varies in accordance with complaint progression, and figures in this Report reflect complaint status on 11 July 2022.
We open one complaint when a customer contacts us but they often experience more than one complaint issue, such as a high bill and poor customer service, meaning the number of complaint issues is greater than the number of complaints we receive.
Highlights from 2021/2022
- The release of our Spotlight On report on Hot Water Embedded Networks led to our expertise being sought by the NSW Office of Energy and Climate Change, AER, Channel 10 News and NSW Legislative Assembly committee.
- Through our systemic issues work we identified complaints where we believed Origin Energy actions were at odds with the AER’s Hardship Guideline. Following an AER investigation, the Federal Court ordered Origin Energy to pay a record $17 million penalty for breaching laws and regulations designed to protect customers in financial difficulty. Without our complaint handling and systemic issues work, this may not have been identified and brought to the attention of the AER.
- We progressed our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan by introducing Cultural Protocols training for new employees and prioritising purchasing EWON’s collateral through Aboriginal-owned businesses. We also engaged Mirri Mirri, an Aboriginal-owned cultural awareness training provider to educate all EWON staff and Board members.
The data in this Report is drawn from complaints received during the 2021/2022 financial year, unless otherwise specified. EWON’s open complaint data varies in accordance with complaint progression, and figures in this Report reflect complaint status on 11 July 2022.
We open one complaint when a customer contacts us but they often experience more than one complaint issue, such as a high bill and poor customer service, meaning the number of complaint issues is greater than the number of complaints we receive.