The Australian Energy Regulator’s (AER) Retail Guidelines set expectations for how retailers communicate with consumers and provide key assistance measures. Revising the guidelines presents an opportunity to reform the retail market and help ensure all consumers get the information and assistance they need to access energy services and supports that work for them.
That’s why our submission in response to the AER’s Draft Retail Guidelines highlights the need to shift the focus from process to outcomes for consumers. Our recommendations include:
- Aligning the guidelines with consumer expectations and recognised good practice;
- further changes to the Customer Hardship Policy to ensure earlier, more practical assistance that keeps households connected, and;
- focusing objectives on what consumers need, rather than how retailers prefer to operate.
What’s next?
The final guidelines will be published by the AER in September 2026, and they should come into effect by the end of December, 2026. These reforms are part of wider processes updating energy consumer regulations and protections to better reflect a contemporary understanding of what is required to ensure fair, equitable access to essential energy services for all consumers.
