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What’s the issue with Greater Western Water bills?
Greater Western Water has moved to a new billing system. Due to technical issues, some of its customers haven't received their bills on time.
More information is available on Greater Western Water’s website.
What does this mean for me?
If you are a Greater Western Water customer impacted by the system issue, it means you may receive bills that cover a longer period than usual and are higher than normal.
Your bill should set out what each charge is for and the period of time it covers. You will also have extra time to pay the delayed bill.
What are my rights about delayed bills?
Greater Western Water is regulated by the Essential Services Commission (the ESC). The ESC’s Water Industry Standard says a water company is entitled to bill undercharged amounts if:
- it notifies the customer it has undercharged, and
- the amount is for a period up to 4 months before it notified the customer.
This means Greater Western Water can bill you for undercharged amounts up to 4 months before it told you the bill was delayed.
Greater Western Water has agreed with the ESC that it will not seek to recover usage charges before 1 April 2024. For more information, please visit the ESC’s website.
What should I do if I'm concerned about my bill?
Your first contact point is Greater Western Water. You can raise any concerns you have such as whether:
- you were notified about the delayed bill
- you have been charged correctly
- you have difficulty paying the amount due
- your concession has been applied.
For more information and to contact Greater Western Water, please visit its website.
What happens if I can't get in touch with Greater Western Water or have not received a response from Greater Western Water?
Customers should first try and contact Greater Western Water to raise their concerns directly. If you cannot get through by telephone, you may also be able to submit your request through its self-service options.
If you’ve made attempts to contact Greater Western Water and haven’t heard back within a reasonable period of time, you can make a complaint to us. We are here to help.
How can we help?
If you’re unhappy with Greater Western Water’s response, you can lodge a complaint with us. If you can’t access our webform, call us on 1800 500 509.
We will record the details of your complaint and escalate it to Greater Western Water. We expect Greater Western Water to resolve the complaint within 15 working days.
After this time, we'll ask you if the complaint has been resolved to your satisfaction. If not, we may then investigate your concerns. The sorts of matters we can consider include whether:
- you were billed correctly
- you were notified about the delayed bill
- Greater Western Water has adequately assisted you with payment difficulty
- any concessions you are entitled to were applied correctly.