In this section: Partnering with the community | Partnering with stakeholders

Partnering with the community

Assistance programs for energy consumers This year one of our community outreach initiatives brought together key stakeholders to raise awareness of the energy assistance programs available for people in financial difficulty.

EWON invited the manager and coordinator of DEUS' Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) scheme to present to community members along with representatives from ActewAGL, AGL, Country Energy, EnergyAustralia and Integral Energy.

We held four of these joint forums in Gosford, Queanbeyan, Parramatta and Wollongong, and promoted them widely to agencies that distribute EAPA vouchers, community welfare organisations and Government service delivery agencies.

The events were extremely well attended and advocates were forthcoming with questions about the new EAPA guidelines, voucher allocations and policies for distribution.

Representatives from the energy providers outlined how they can assist customers facing disconnection or unmanageable bills, and clarified the eligibility criteria and referral processes required to access their customer assistance programs. Many of the community workers were not aware that the companies offered such programs and they responded positively to the opportunity to discuss the benefits face-to-face with the providers.

Community workers raised other issues including:

• privacy laws and the implications for their day-to-day work as advocates
• the need to have direct access to the providers' assistance teams
• the responsibility of the retailer in cases where customers have accumulated unmanageable arrears
• the benefits of flexible payment options such as Centrepay.

We received very positive feedback from all participants and requests to run the forums in other parts of NSW.

Industry Ombudsman Forums: helping consumers with their complaints This year we teamed with other complaint handling agencies to present joint forums about alternative dispute resolution schemes and how consumers can resolve problems with banks and credit providers, telecommunications and internet companies, as well as energy and water providers. EWON collaborated with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and the Banking and Financial Services Ombudsman to present a forum in Newcastle for community and Government workers.

We were also invited to present at an Ombudsman Forum in Wollongong, which was hosted by the Illawarra Legal Centre as part of Law Week.

During the year we continued to partner with the NSW Ombudsman and Commonwealth Ombudsman to host information stalls at community events such as the Villawood Festival of Unity, Arabic Carnivale and the India-Australia Fair Day.

Outreach to rural and remote communities While technology has enabled EWON to offer customers an online information and complaint facility, many disadvantaged customers in isolated areas are not able to contact us in this way. The constant feedback we hear from community advocates by phone, at forums and during outreach visits, is that face-to-face contact helps to get our message across and, more importantly, to establish trust.

For this reason we have continued outreach in rural and regional areas of NSW. This year we visited government and community agencies in isolated areas to increase awareness of utility issues and promote our services.

We travelled to the South Coast hubs of Wollongong, Kiama, Nowra, Ulladulla and Batemans Bay, where we met with local Aboriginal corporations, Indigenous housing providers, local welfare services that distribute EAPA, financial counseling services, and neighbourhood and community legal centres.

We also visited the Hunter and Central Coast regional areas, where we presented to the Hunter Emergency Relief Forum and a group of trainee financial counsellors in Gosford.

Working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities After consulting with CALD community advocates, EWON began redeveloping our website to make it more user-friendly and accessible to non-English speaking communities. Our new website went live in December 2004, featuring an online enquiry and complaint form in English and 12 community languages.

We have since promoted the multilingual online facility to relevant groups through radio and print media, as well as directing our outreach events to these groups. For example, we had an information stall at the Migrant Information Expo in Ryde and presented to staff at a migrant resource centre that assists refugees and humanitarian entrants establish life in NSW.

We worked with interpreters to present our information to people in their own languages, for example a Cantonese and Mandarin interpreter assisted us in a presentation to a group of Chinese seniors. This has been a successful partnership and we have had positive feedback from advocates about their clients hearing information in their own languages.

Indigenous outreach EWON's Indigenous outreach continued during 2004-2005 and our commitment to the program was formally recognised by the appointment of Diana Barbouttis to the position of Investigations and Project Officer (Indigenous).

After celebrating NAIDOC week in July 2004, EWON collaborated with Country Energy on an outreach trip to western NSW which covered areas such as Bourke, Brewarrina, Moree and Dubbo. This trip coincided with the launch of EWON's Indigenous resources, developed as part of our 'Within Reach' project. By the end of 2004, after extensive promotion to the Indigenous community, we had distributed over 10,000 Indigenous-specific information brochures and posters.

Outreach activities in 2005 began with our participation in Survival Day Celebrations, by hosting an information stall at the Yabun Concert organised by Koori Radio/Gadigal Information Services. In the first half of 2005, we visited Indigenous agencies from the South Coast through to the Mid North Coast, which helped us establish good networks in these areas and resulted in further requests for Indigenous resources.

In metropolitan areas, our Indigenous officer has attended Interagency Network meetings for local Indigenous service providers in the Government and community sectors. The meetings are a great opportunity to develop partnerships and networks.

Our Indigenous officer also continued to work on complaint investigations, further developing Indigenous-specific resources and conducting snapshot surveys to gauge the level of contact from people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

In March 2005, EWON staff participated in Indigenous cross cultural training conducted by Noel Butler, an Indigenous Elder from the Budawang mob, South Coast, NSW.

Partnering with stakeholders

Providing an independent, well-informed and responsive service to both energy and water consumers and providers is central to our work. This year EWON continued to liaise with the utilities and other industry stakeholders to:

• enhance our understanding of industry and customer issues
• raise awareness among providers of EWON's jurisdiction and processes
• strengthen and/or rebuild providers' relationships with their customers
• increase communication between providers in relation to customer issues
• address systemic issues identified during the investigation of customer complaints

As part of our collaborative approach to addressing the needs of consumers, EWON hosted a Customer Financial Hardship Forum to provide a platform for energy and water providers to share ideas, strategies and experiences. The success of this initiative has been significant, as the providers have since held their own forums to discuss service delivery improvements and further assistance for customers experiencing financial hardship.

The first follow-up forum was convened and hosted by EnergyAustralia early in 2005.

We continue to run an induction program for members which aims to increase the providers' understanding of what we do and how they can use best practice models of dispute resolution to improve their customer service.

Sharing knowledge and experience Our emphasis on collaboration has fostered a two-way learning process for EWON and the utilities. The providers have supported the learning and development of EWON staff by facilitating field visits and training opportunities.

For example, EWON staff attended:

• A field trip with Sydney Water to inspect the priority sewerage program at Jamberoo, which gave us an understanding of the complex issues regarding sewerage services in some areas.
• Training provided by Integral Energy and AGL on meter testing processes, which increased our technical knowledge and gave us an opportunity for information exchange with metering experts.
• A field trip with Country Energy to view their operations in the Bathurst area and gain a better understanding of the issues particular to rural and remote customers. This trip included a presentation on Country Energy's complaint handling processes, an overview of network operations and a visit to the Blayney Wind Farm.

Working with members to improve customer service Best practice customer service is fundamental to increasing customer satisfaction and reducing complaints. With this in mind, EWON organised a forum for energy and water providers to promote best practice in customer contact centres. The forum provided an opportunity for the utilities to share strengths and challenges, and included presentations from experts on best practice strategies for complaint handling.

EWON is committed to increasing the providers' awareness of issues affecting customers, improving access to customer support programs and strengthening the relationship between customers and their utility provider. To facilitate this, EWON invited Country Energy to join us in visiting a range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous community welfare agencies on the Mid North Coast. We have found that bringing together customers, advocates and providers builds significant trust, and allows customers to relate their experiences first hand.

Working with Government and other industry stakeholders Wherever possible, EWON works with other stakeholders to share information and improve dispute resolution processes and outcomes. A number of agencies were invited to present to EWON staff including DEUS, Centrelink and IPART. Throughout the year we met with the Office of Fair Trading, Department of Housing, DEUS and IPART to discuss current issues and matters of shared interest, increased industry efficiency and improved service delivery for customers.