An independent review, requested by the Minister for Water, has now been completed. Nous Group completed this report for the Board of Greater Western Water.
The review looked at how Greater Western Water planned for and responded to the billing incident, and how we can improve.
A statement from our Chair
GWW’s billing issues have caused stress and inconvenience for many of our customers and we know those impacts are still being felt. We’re sorry this happened. We’re committed to making it right - fixing what went wrong and building a stronger, more reliable service for the future.
The report from Nous Group outlines 25 recommendations covering governance, planning, capability and resources, communication tools, customer engagement and support, and more.
The recommendations are practical, achievable steps that will help us prevent similar issues in future.
What we’re doing
We’ve accepted every recommendation. As we work to implement the recommendations from the independent review, we’re also focused on strengthening the reliability and transparency of our billing services. We’ve set clear standards to help our customers know what to expect. Read more about our progress and commitments as we continue to restore services:
We’ll also be sharing the lessons with other water corporations and are developing a supporting industry framework to help prevent similar issues in future.
Who contributed
The review was delivered independently by Nous Group, led by consumer advocate Claire Noone and supported by expert advisers.
The review team heard from a wide range of voices, including:
Greater Western Water staff
Government agencies and regulators
Community and customer representatives
Customer complaints made to Greater Western Water and the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria
The review considered all perspectives shared, including formal complaints and stories from customers and community members, to help build a picture of what went wrong and how we can do better.
We thank everyone who has contributed to the review and those whose feedback continues to inform our response.
