To continue providing high quality, reliable, safe and affordable water services, water corporations will work with – and communicate effectively and transparently to – their customers and the local community

Even better customer service and community engagement

Previously, water sector customer service performance was measured by quantity, e.g. by reporting the average number of seconds it took customers to be connected to an operator:

Average number of seconds it took customers to be connected to an operator for account and fault line business-reported data for all Victorian water businesses. 2011-12 33 seconds 2012-13 26 seconds 2013-14 23 seconds 2014-15 24 seconds 2015-16 23 seconds

Account and fault line business-reported data for all Victorian water businesses.  Source: Essential Services Commission Water Performance Reports

In future we’ll be able to let you know how your water corporation is performing in the quality of its customer service and community engagement, e.g.:

  • percentage of customer queries resolved by the first response; and
  • customer satisfaction score

Water sector complaints referred to the Ombudsman

We’ll still report on key measurable actions here, and expect that performance will improve year on year. This figure shows water customer cases referred to the Ombudsman:

Water customer cases referred to the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria: 2011-12 2,282 2012-13 2,435 2013-14 2,785 2014-15 2,383 2015-16 2,398

Source: Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria Annual Reports

By communicating clear performance information from across the industry the government can ensure that the Victorian water sector is providing the best possible service to the community.