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Red Energy and Lumo Energy push for a rule change on Family Violence

PR Newswire

Cremorne, Vic., Oct. 5, 2021 /Medianet/ --

Snowy Hydro’s energy retailers, Red Energy and Lumo Energy, requested a change to the National Energy Retail Rules today which will increase protections for consumers affected by family violence no matter where they live in Australia.

The rule change request has been developed in consultation with the Australian Energy Regulator, retailers, consumer advocates and ombudsman. It would place a requirement on energy retailers to provide assistance and support to consumers affected by family violence.

As part of these proposed changes energy retailers will be required to:

  • Provide consumers affected by family violence with safe, supportive and flexible assistance in managing their personal and financial security. 

  • Establish a family violence policy which is publicly available on their website outlining the support available for affected customers. 

  • Keep the contact information and personal details of customers affected by family violence secure. 

  • Require that energy retailers recognise family violence as a potential cause of payment difficulty. 


Iain Graham, CEO of Red Energy and Lumo Energy said extending these protections to all consumers was the decent thing to do. “Family violence doesn’t discriminate and it certainly doesn’t stop at state borders.  We know one in four women will be affected by family violence in their lifetime.  This is a tragic statistic and one we believe we have some responsibility as a business to try to change” said Mr Graham.


When the Victorian Government introduced changes to the Energy Retail Code and introduced protections for Victorian consumers in 2019, Mr Graham immediately extended those protections to all customers.  He believes it's time the National Energy Retail Rules were officially changed to ensure ALL retailers provided protections to ALL consumers should they need it. 


The details of the request can be found here:

https://www.aemc.gov.au/rule-changes/protecting-customers-affected-family-violence


About Snowy Hydro’s Retail Group.

Red Energy and Lumo Energy are 100% Australian owned subsidiaries of Snowy Hydro Limited. Collectively, they retail gas and electricity in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT to over 1 million customers.

Snowy Hydro also owns Direct Connect Australia, which makes moving easy for customers by arranging connections to a wide range of services, including electricity and gas. 

Red, Lumo and Direct Connect believe it is imperative that energy customers affected by family violence are afforded protections, irrespective of where they live. All entities, including energy retailers have a corporate social responsibility to assist customers in this unfortunate situation.

 

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