Vulnerable Tasmanians shouldn’t be charged additional fees to keep the power on, writes Lucinda Szczypior.
WHEN a Tasmanian household is struggling to pay their power bill and facing disconnection, the last thing they need is another fee added to their account for receiving help.
Yet that is exactly what can happen in Tasmania under the Knock to Stay Connected program.
The program was developed with the right intention. Before disconnecting electricity supply, a TasNetworks representative visits households to provide information about customer support, payment assistance and ways to stay connected.
And it works.
National trials have shown people facing financial crisis are more likely to respond to a human conversation than another automated reminder or threatening notice in the mail.
In Tasmania, a high proportion of Knock to Stay Connected visits successfully prevent disconnection, helping hundreds of households each year avoid the devastating consequences of losing access to electricity.
But there is a serious flaw in the way the program operates in Tasmania.
If the visit successfully prevents disconnection, TasNetworks may charge the customer more than $116 (excluding GST) for the visit. If the household is disconnected anyway, the visit fee is waived and replaced by a larger disconnection charge.
In effect, households at risk of disconnection are being billed for the very intervention designed to help keep their power connected.
TasCOSS estimates TasNetworks has recovered more than $125,000 from vulnerable households through these charges, and we project that figure could more than double over the next two years as electricity prices continue to rise and record numbers of Tasmanians are in energy debt.
The amounts involved are modest in the context of TasNetworks’ overall revenue, but they are significant for households already under severe financial pressure. TasCOSS is not aware of any other energy network business in the country participating in the program that recovers fees from customers for this service.
Programs like Knock to Stay Connected are intended to encourage people to engage early with their energy supplier, access available support and avoid disconnection. Charging people for that support undermines the very purpose of the program.
Disconnection is not just a consequence of an unpaid bill. It is a serious social harm.
Research from the Justice and Equity Centre shows households facing disconnection are often already dealing with disability, chronic illness, mental ill-health, insecure housing or family violence.
TasCOSS has heard from too many Tasmanians who are depriving themselves of energy, taking fewer showers, going without food, medicine and other essentials, but are still finding themselves in energy hardship with no way to pay down debt.
Households receiving Knock to Stay Connected visits are not choosing a premium service. They are people at risk of losing access to an essential service because they cannot afford their bills. Charging them for support at that moment risks deepening the hardship the program is meant to prevent.
Tasmania’s energy businesses returned more than $450 million to Government during the past two financial years. Given the scale of those returns, funding the Knock to Stay Connected program is a modest and reasonable investment.
TasCOSS called on the Tasmanian Government to invest in the Knock to Stay Connected program in its recent Budget to help meet growing demand and avoid the broader health and social impacts associated with energy hardship.
It is disappointing that such a modest request to support vulnerable customers could not be funded, despite the substantial returns the energy businesses deliver to the Government.
Electricity is not a discretionary luxury. It is an essential service.
That is why preventative programs like Knock to Stay Connected matter. They provide a final opportunity to intervene before hardship spirals further. But that intervention should not come with an extra charge for people already struggling to keep the power on.
Removing these charges is a sensible and achievable reform.
Most importantly, it will ensure vulnerable Tasmanians can receive the support they need without being penalised for needing it.
Lucinda Szczypior is acting co-chief executive of the Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS).