Euroka Energy Family and Domestic Violence Policy

If you are in immediate danger, call 000.

Applies to: All residential and small business customers in all states

1. Introduction and Our Commitment

Euroka Energy is committed to the safety, wellbeing, dignity and privacy of customers who are affected by family violence, including family and domestic violence. Euroka Energy does not tolerate family violence in any form.

This policy explains how Euroka Energy identifies and assists affected customers, how Euroka Energy applies the family violence protections in the National Energy Retail Rules (Retail Rules), what practical support may be available, how Euroka Energy protects affected customer information, and how customers can access external support services.

Our approach is respectful, confidential, practical, trauma-informed and aligned with the Retail Rules, the National Energy Customer Framework (NECF), the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), and relevant AER guidance.

In all dealings with an affected customer, Euroka Energy will have regard first to the customer’s safety, as far as the customer’s safety is impacted by them being affected by family violence, and will take into account the customer’s particular circumstances.

If you are in immediate danger, call 000.

2. Scope and Application

This policy applies to residential and small business customers in National Energy Customer Framework (NECF) jurisdictions where Euroka Energy retails energy, including current customers and former customers where Euroka Energy continues to hold information or is managing debt, disputes or account matters.

For the purpose of this policy, an affected customer means a current or former small customer who may be affected by family violence.

Euroka Energy will continue to protect affected customer information and apply relevant protections to former customers where Euroka Energy continues to hold information or manage debt, disputes or account matters relating to that customer.

3. What is Family Violence?

Family violence (also called domestic or family and domestic violence) can include behaviour by a partner, former partner, family member, carer, kinship connection, housemate or other person  in a domestic or family-like relationship that is intended to coerce, control, threaten, intimidate or harm another person.

Family violence may include, but is not limited to:

• physical abuse
• sexual assault or sexual abuse
• emotional or psychological abuse, including threats, intimidation, harassment and manipulation
• coercive control
• financial or economic abuse, including controlling access to money, placing bills in a person’s name without consent, refusing to contribute, or using debt as a means of control
• social abuse or isolation from family, friends, cultural communities or support networks
• technology-facilitated abuse, surveillance, stalking or monitoring via phone, email, apps, devices, social media or online accounts
• damage to property
• stalking, threats and intimidation
• restricting access to essential services such as electricity, bills or communications

4. Our Commitment

• Prioritise customer safety first in all dealings with affected customers.
• Provide support without requiring documentary evidence of family violence.
• Train relevant staff, contractors, subcontractors and agents on an ongoing basis.
• Maintain secure systems and processes to identify and protect affected customers.
• Recognise family violence as a likely cause of hardship or payment difficulties.
• Offer practical support with billing, debt, payment arrangements, account security and account changes.
• Protect affected customer information and avoid repeated disclosures.
• Provide information about external family violence support services in a safe and appropriate way.
• Review and update this policy from time to time to maintain compliance and good practice.

5. How Euroka Energy Applies the Retail Rules

Euroka Energy maintains this Family Violence Policy to explain how we identify and assist affected customers and how we apply the family violence protections in the Retail Rules.

Euroka Energy publishes this policy on its website, will keep it accessible, and will provide a copy free of charge on request. Euroka Energy implements, maintains and complies with this policy through staff training, system controls, internal procedures, oversight of contractors and agents, and regular compliance review.

6. Staff Capability and Respectful Communication

Euroka Energy ensures that relevant staff, contractors, subcontractors and agents who may engage with small customers, or who design or manage systems and processes affecting customer interactions, are able on an ongoing basis to:

• understand the nature and consequences of family violence
• identify and engage appropriately, safely and effectively with affected customers
• assist affected customers in accordance with the Retail Rules and this policy

With the customer’s consent, Euroka Energy may communicate with a nominated or authorised support person on the customer’s behalf, including a social worker, financial counsellor, legal representative, advocate, trusted family member or other authorised person.

7. Identifying Affected Customers and Avoiding Repeated Disclosure

Euroka Energy maintains a secure process designed to assess whether a customer may be an affected customer, identify the account of an affected customer, avoid repeated disclosures, and support effective ongoing engagement.

A customer may be identified as an affected customer if:

• the customer tells us they are experiencing or have experienced family violence
• an authorised third party tells us on the customer’s behalf, with authority
• Euroka Energy staff identify indicators suggesting the customer may be affected by family violence

Euroka Energy will not require documentary evidence of family violence as a precondition to providing assistance or protections under this policy.

When a customer is identified as an affected customer, Euroka Energy will place a confidential internal flag or equivalent protective control on the account or relevant records, restrict access  to authorised staff on a need-to-know basis, record safe communication instructions, and use internal notes and handling procedures to reduce the need for the customer to repeat their circumstances.

8. Safety First and Regard to the Customer’s Particular Circumstances

In all dealings with an affected customer, Euroka Energy will have regard firstly to the customer’s safety and will take into account the customer’s particular circumstances.

This may include consideration of:

• whether a joint account holder or perpetrator may monitor communications
• whether the customer has relocated or is seeking to keep their location confidential
• whether the customer has children or dependants
• whether the customer is in financial hardship or subject to financial abuse
• whether the customer has disability, language, literacy, cultural, remote access or other accessibility needs
• whether an authorised support person should be used instead of direct contact
• whether automated communications should be paused or suppressed

Euroka Energy uses a Recognise, Respond, Refer approach: recognise possible signs of family violence, respond safely and respectfully within our role as an energy retailer, and refer to specialist support services where appropriate.

9. Hardship, Payment Difficulties and Account Support

Euroka Energy recognises that family violence is a likely cause of payment difficulties and/or hardship.

If a customer is identified as an affected customer, Euroka Energy will promptly consider whether the customer may need hardship support, payment assistance, debt review, fee waivers, billing support, concession or rebate assistance, energy efficiency advice, or referral to financial counselling.

Depending on the customer’s circumstances, Euroka Energy may offer one or more of the following:

• tailored payment plans
• payment extensions
• payment deferrals or temporary holds
• review of outstanding debt
• partial or full debt waiver where appropriate, including in cases of financial abuse
• suspension or pause of debt collection activity
• review of debt on joint accounts
• hardship support and/or referral to financial counselling
• energy efficiency advice
• assistance with government concessions or rebates where applicable Euroka Energy will waive late payment fees for affected customers.

If requested by an affected customer, Euroka Energy will allow payment via Centrepay where available and applicable. Euroka Energy may also offer other payment channels subject to operational availability.

10. Debt Recovery and Disconnection Protections

Before Euroka Energy takes action to recover arrears from an affected customer, or transfers debt to a third-party debt collector, Euroka Energy will consider:

• the potential impact of debt recovery action on the affected customer at that time
• whether another person is jointly or severally responsible for the energy usage or debt

Euroka Energy will not refer an affected customer’s debt to a third-party debt collector unless Euroka Energy has first assessed the customer’s circumstances, considered safety and trauma risks, considered whether the debt may have arisen from family violence or financial abuse, considered whether another person may be jointly or severally responsible, and considered whether internal support options should continue instead.

Euroka Energy will not arrange de-energisation (disconnection) of an affected customer’s premises for non-payment unless Euroka Energy has first considered:

• the potential impact of de-energisation on the affected customer at that time
• whether another person is jointly or severally responsible for the relevant non-payment or conduct

Before any disconnection is considered, Euroka Energy will review whether the customer is identified as an affected customer, whether the customer is on or should be on hardship or payment assistance, whether family violence or financial abuse contributed to the arrears, whether the customer has dependants or other vulnerability factors, whether another person  may be responsible, whether other support options have been exhausted, and whether disconnection would create unacceptable safety risk.

Euroka Energy’s default approach is to avoid disconnection of affected customers wherever reasonably possible and only proceed where permitted by law and after a documented case review.

11. Protecting Privacy and Affected Customer Information

Protecting affected customer information is critical. Euroka Energy will not disclose or provide access to affected customer information to any other person, including a current or former joint account holder, without the affected customer’s consent, unless disclosure is required or authorised by law.

Affected customer information includes any information that may be used to identify, communicate with or locate the customer, including contact details, address details, financial circumstances, family violence flags or notes, and information about whereabouts or support arrangements.

Euroka Energy will protect affected customer information by:

• record only information necessary to provide support and comply with the law
• use secure account notes and access controls
• suppress or limit automated communications where needed
• ensure old or unsafe addresses are not used
• avoid including unnecessary personal details in correspondence
• verify the identity of anyone seeking account access, including support persons
• require contractors, subcontractors and agents to comply with the same confidentiality obligations
• review systems and workflows to reduce risk of accidental disclosure

Where permitted by law and operationally feasible, Euroka Energy may assist with restricting additional account holders, reviewing joint account access, or removing a customer’s name and personal information from an account where the customer is an authorised contact or where changes are appropriate and lawful.

Euroka Energy requires all contractors, subcontractors and agents who may access affected customer information to comply with this policy and with applicable confidentiality  requirements. All data handling under this policy will be undertaken consistently with applicable privacy laws, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

12. Preferred Method of Communication

Euroka Energy will take reasonable steps to identify an affected customer’s preferred method of communication and will record and use that method.

This may include:

• phone call at a safe time
• SMS
• email
• post to a safe address or PO Box
• online portal if safe
• contact through an authorised third party
• another safe method agreed with the customer

When a customer is identified as an affected customer, Euroka Energy will ask (where safe and appropriate) how the customer wants to be contacted, when it is safe to contact them, whether there are methods we must not use, and whether they want all communications to go through an authorised support person.  

13. No Documentary Evidence Required

Euroka Energy will not require an affected customer, or a third party acting on the customer’s behalf, to provide documentary evidence of family violence as a precondition to being identified as an affected customer, receiving support under this policy, receiving protections under the Retail Rules, or accessing hardship or payment assistance linked to family violence.

14. External Family Violence Support Services

Euroka Energy will provide affected customers with information about one or more external family violence support services at a time and in a manner that is safe, respectful and appropriate to the customer’s circumstances. 

Euroka Energy will keep an up-to-date list of relevant support services on its website and will review that list periodically.

Where appropriate, Euroka Energy staff may provide support information verbally, by the customer’s preferred communication method, or to an authorised third party. Euroka Energy will not send support service information to an unsafe email address, unsafe mobile number or unsafe postal address.

National support services:

Queensland:

New South Wales:

South Australia:

ACT / Tasmania:

Euroka Energy will maintain current local service listings applicable to customers in the relevant NECF jurisdiction on its website.

15. Contract Consistency

If there is any inconsistency between this Family Violence Policy and the terms of an affected customer’s market retail contract, this Family Violence Policy will prevail to the extent of the inconsistency, as required by the Retail Rules.

Euroka Energy will not treat an affected customer as being in breach of contract where the customer is unable to comply with a contractual obligation because Euroka Energy is complying with the family violence protections in the Retail Rules, or because the customer is using their preferred method of communication and that affects how a contractual step is completed. 

16. Internal Governance and Compliance

Euroka Energy maintains internal systems and controls to support this policy, including internal procedures, training records, secure account handling controls, monitoring, incident escalation and periodic review.

Where required, Euroka Energy will comply with applicable AER reporting obligations in relation to breaches of relevant Retail Rules.

17. Contacting Euroka Energy Safely

Euroka Energy Customer Support

Phone: 1800 161 969

Email: support@eurokaenergy.au

Mail: 1/21 Lenco Crescent, Landsborough QLD 4550

When contacting us, please tell us (if safe to do so) the safest way to contact you, the safest time to contact you, whether there are methods we must not use, and whether you want a support person to act for you.  

18. Complaints and Escalation

If a customer is not satisfied with how Euroka Energy has handled their matter under this policy, they may:

1. contact Euroka Energy’s Customer Support or Customer Resolution / Complaints Team
2. request escalation to a senior case officer or manager
3. if still unresolved, contact the relevant Energy Ombudsman

Relevant Energy Ombudsman contacts for NECF jurisdictions include:

• Queensland – Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland – 1800 662 837 – www.ewoq.com.au
• New South Wales – Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW – 1800 246 545 – www.ewon.com.au
• South Australia – Energy & Water Ombudsman SA – 1800 665 565 – www.ewosa.com.au
• ACT / Tasmania – Euroka Energy will provide the relevant ombudsman details applicable to the customer’s jurisdiction

19. Website Accessibility and Review

Euroka Energy will publish this policy on a dedicated webpage that is easy to find from the website homepage and will maintain a downloadable PDF version. 

Where reasonably practicable, Euroka Energy will aim to support accessibility by using clear headings and plain language, providing a readable layout, supporting screen-reader friendly access, and providing large print, plain English or language assistance on request.

This policy will be reviewed at least annually and sooner if required by law, AER guidance, a material complaint, incident, breach, or operational change.

20. Policy Review and Continuous Improvement

This policy will be reviewed at least annually, when the Retail Rules change, when AER guidance changes, after a material complaint, incident or breach, and after any internal process or system change affecting family violence handling.

Euroka Energy may also seek input from legal advisers, compliance advisers, family violence specialists, customer advocates and, where appropriate, people with lived experience.

At Euroka Energy, we stand with survivors. We are committed to being part of a safer and more compassionate future for all.