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Legend
The following colours apply to outcomes in our performance tables:
| Achieved | Partially achieved | Not achieved |
| Outcome | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Be affordable and fair | |||||
| 2. Do your job well | |||||
| 3. Be easy to deal with | |||||
| 4. Be environmentally responsible | |||||
| 5. Be involved in the community | |||||
| 6. Plan for the future | |||||
| Overall, for reporting year |
Comment
Our outcomes and outputs were shaped by our customers through extensive engagement in the development of our 2023–28 Price Submission.
We made a commitment in our 2023 Price Submission to involve our customers in setting the targets against which we would be measured in delivering our outcomes and outputs. Performance ratings are determined using an Outcomes Rating Matrix developed with and endorsed by our Customer Reference Group. The matrix establishes tolerance levels for each measure and recognises that minor variations from target may still represent acceptable performance. This ensures our green, amber and red ratings reflect both customer expectations and the significance of the result achieved. We present our performance against these measures to the Customer Reference Group at both the mid-year and annual reporting milestones, providing members with an opportunity to provide feedback, ask questions and share their perspectives.
During 2025–26, we achieved strong results across most of our outcome commitments. We maintained our focus on affordability and supporting customers experiencing financial difficulty, delivered strong customer experience results and continued to provide safe and reliable water and wastewater services. We also achieved all measures under our environmental outcome, including exceeding our emissions reduction target and sourcing all electricity consumed from renewable sources.
Our customer satisfaction results were particularly positive, with 98% of customers who had contacted us indicating that we are easy to deal with, 72% believing we keep them informed when services are interrupted, and 68% considering us a valued member of the community.
The key area where we did not achieve our target was customer perception that we plan for the future. While we continued to progress a range of long-term planning initiatives to support future service, infrastructure and environmental needs, improving customer awareness of this work will remain an area of focus.
Our results
| Output | Unit | 23-24 | 24-25 | 25-26 | 26-27 | 27-28 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customers in a hardship program with water supply restricted for non-payment | Number | Target | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Actual | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Customers that believe we provide value for money (rating 'yes' in our annual customer satisfaction survey) | Percentage of survey respondents | Target | 71% | 71% | 71% | 71% | 71% |
| Actual | 68% | 73% | 69% | ||||
| Customers aware of the customer care support we offer (rating 'yes' in our customer satisfaction survey) | Percentage of survey respondents | Target | 72% | 72% | 72% | 72% | 72% |
| Actual | 68% | 75% | 74% | ||||
| Controllable operating expenditure per customer (res & non-res) connection (Jan23$) | Dollars | Target | $1046.43 | $1041.83 | $1044.03 | $1041.70 | $1018.88 |
| Actual | $1038.32 | $1066.95 | $1,043.48 | ||||
| Customers notified within five business days of a detection of significantly high-water use in a billing period | Percentage | Target | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Actual | 99.97% | 99.95% | 100% | ||||
| How are we tracking for outcome 1 in the regulatory period so far? | On track | ||||||
Comment
Affordability remained a key focus during 2025–26, particularly in the context of ongoing cost-of-living pressures for our community. We continued to support customers experiencing financial difficulty, with no customers in our hardship program having their water supply restricted for non-payment. Awareness of our Customer Care Program and the support available to customers experiencing financial difficulty remained strong at 74%, exceeding the 72% target. This result demonstrates that our communications campaign is helping to maintain and raise customer awareness of the assistance available to help manage payment challenges.
Customer perceptions of value for money were 69%, slightly below the 71% target but within the green or on-track tolerance level established in our Outcomes Rating Matrix and endorsed by our Customer Reference Group. While this result was lower than the previous year, it remains strong given the continued pressure of inflation, interest rates and broader household cost pressures impacting customers.
We met our efficiency commitment, with controllable operating expenditure of $1,043.48 per customer connection, slightly favourable to the target of $1,044.03. While this internal measure does not directly affect customer tariffs, it provides an important indication of how efficiently we deliver services for our customers and our continued focus on controlling our operational expenditure. This result was achieved through cost mitigations of $15.80 per connection, more than offsetting the impact of lower customer connection growth across the Price Submission period, which placed upward pressure on the cost to serve. Total controllable operating expenditure was approximately $1.5 million lower than forecast, supported by initiatives embedded through our Corporate Plan, including targeted efficiency improvements, prudent expenditure management and additional savings identified through the forecasting process. These actions helped offset higher maintenance, chemical and waste transportation and disposal costs, enabling us to maintain our efficiency commitment despite ongoing cost pressures.
We also continued to perform strongly on early notification of high water use. During 2025–26, we issued 4,181 high consumption notifications, with 100% provided within five business days of detection. Early notification helps customers identify potential leaks, unexpected consumption or other issues that may affect their water bill, supporting our commitment to help customers manage their water use and costs.
| Output | Unit | 23-24 | 24-25 | 25-26 | 26-27 | 27-28 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sewer spills inside a house contained within one hour | Percentage | Target | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Actual | 100% | 96% | 100% | ||||
| Planned interruptions restored within advised times | Percentage | Target | 98% | 98% | 98% | 98% | 98% |
| Actual | 97% | 95% | 97% | ||||
| Drinking water samples not compliant with E.coli standards | Number | Target | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Actual | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Average time to rectify a sewer blockage | Minutes | Target | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Actual | 74.15 | 97.44 | 74.24 | ||||
| Customers who believe we keep them informed when their services are interrupted (rating 'yes' in our annual customer satisfaction survey) | Percentage of survey respondents | Target | Establish Baseline | 70% | 70% | 71% | 71% |
| Actual | 69% | 65% | 72% | ||||
| Number of Safe Drinking Water Act non-compliances (water sampling and audit) | Number | Target | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Actual | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| How are we tracking for outcome 2 in the regulatory period so far? | On track | ||||||
Comment
We have high expectations of our delivery of water and wastewater services, as do our customers. During 2025–26, we maintained the delivery of safe and reliable water services, with no E.coli detections and no Safe Drinking Water Act non-compliances recorded. We achieved our target for sewer spills inside a house contained within one hour, with no such incidents occurring during 2025–26, and met our target for average time to rectify a sewer blockage, achieving an average rectification time of 74.24 minutes against the 80-minute target.
We are committed to transparency and continuous improvement in service delivery. Our result for planned interruptions restored within advised times was 97.23%, slightly below the 98% target but within the green tolerance set through our outcomes framework and endorsed by our Customer Reference Group. Of the planned interruptions undertaken during the year, five exceeded the promised restoration time and triggered Guaranteed Service Level payments (a $50 credit to their next water bill). We have reviewed each incident and implemented corrective actions to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences in the future.
Customer perceptions that we keep them informed when services are interrupted improved significantly during 2025–26, increasing from 65% to 72% and exceeding our target of 70%. We continue to encourage customers to keep their contact details up to date and register for SMS notifications to support timely communication during service interruptions.
| Output | Unit | 23-24 | 24-25 | 25-26 | 26-27 | 27-28 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affected customers receive a minimum of five days notification prior to a planned interruption taking place | Percentage | Target | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | |||
| Actual | 98% | 98% | 98% | |||||||
| Mobile phone-registered customers are notified by SMS of an unplanned service interruption greater than 1hr (between 7:00am & 8:00pm) | Percentage | Target | 95% | 95% | 95% | 95% | 95% | |||
| Actual | 95% | 98% | 98% | |||||||
| Account enquiries resolved at the first point of contact | Percentage | Target | 92% | 92% | 92% | 92% | 92% | |||
| Actual | 92.54% | 90.13% | 91.89% | |||||||
| Customers that believe we are easy to deal with (rating 'yes' in our annual customer satisfaction survey) | Percentage of survey respondents | Target | 92% | 92% | 92% | 92% | 92% | |||
| Actual | 95% | 96% | 98% | |||||||
| How are we tracking for outcome 3 in the regulatory period so far? | On track | |||||||||
Comment
Providing a positive customer experience remains a key focus, and our 2025–26 results demonstrate continued strong performance across this outcome. Our best result under the current Price Submission period was achieved for customers who believe we are easy to deal with, with 98% of customers who had contacted us in the previous year providing a positive response in our annual customer satisfaction survey.
We continue to notify our customers of planned and unplanned service interruptions in a timely manner. Where we fall short, we ensure we learn from our experiences and implement improvements for the future. Customer perceptions that we keep them informed during service interruptions improved from 65% to 72%, exceeding the 70% target, while 98.37% of registered customers affected by an unplanned interruption received an SMS notification, well above the 95% target. We narrowly missed our target of providing at least five days’ notice before a planned interruption, achieving 97.9% during 2025-26. Three planned interruption events resulted in affected customers not receiving the required notice and triggered Guaranteed Service Level payments (a $50 credit on their water bill) in accordance with our customer commitment. We have reviewed each event and implemented improvements to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences in the future.
We aim to deliver a positive customer experience by resolving account enquiries at the first point of contact wherever possible. Account enquiries resolved at first point of contact remained high at 91.89%, narrowly below the 92% target but within the tolerance endorsed by our Customer Reference Group. More complex enquiries, including family violence, financial hardship and debt recovery matters, are increasingly being referred to our specialist Customer Care team to ensure customers receive the dedicated support they need.
| Output | Unit | 23-24 | 24-25 | 25-26 | 26-27 | 27-28 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bio-solids re-use | Percentage | Target | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Actual | 100% | 100% | 100% | ||||
| Emissions reduction compared to the baseline of 42,021 tonnes CO2 emissions | Percentage | Target | 28% | 51% | 72% | 82% | 84% |
| Actual | 31% | 30% | 80% | ||||
| Total electricity consumed originating from renewable sources | Percentage | Target | 45% | 75% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Actual | 33% | 29% | 100% | ||||
| How are we tracking for outcome 4 in the regulatory period so far? | On track | ||||||
Comment
We are committed to providing our services to the community with minimal environmental impact. During 2025–26, we achieved all measures under this outcome, reflecting continued progress in reducing our environmental footprint.
We achieved 100% reuse of biosolids generated at our Gippsland Water Factory, Warragul and Drouin wastewater treatment plants, with 23,770 tonnes beneficially reused during the year. We also exceeded our emissions reduction target, achieving an 80.2% reduction from our 2016 baseline of 42,021 tCO₂-e, compared with a target of 72%, reducing total emissions to 8,339 tCO₂-e. Across 2025-26, 100% of the electricity we consumed originated from renewable sources. Our 100% Renewable Electricity Plan, together with ongoing investment in energy efficiency and self-generation initiatives, continues to support these outcomes while helping manage electricity costs in a volatile market.
| Output | Unit | 23-24 | 24-25 | 25-26 | 26-27 | 27-28 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customers who see us as a valued member of the community (rating 'yes' in our annual customer satisfaction survey) | Percentage of survey respondents | Target | 61% | 61% | 61% | 62% | 62% |
| Actual | 62% | 66% | 68% | ||||
| How are we tracking for outcome 5 in the regulatory period so far? | On track | ||||||
Comment
We recognise the important role we play in the communities we serve and remain committed to making a positive contribution across our region. During 2025–26, 68% of customers indicated that we are a valued member of the local community, exceeding our target of 61% and achieving our best result for this measure. This result reflects our continued focus on engaging with our communities and maintaining a visible presence across the region. It also continues the positive trend observed over recent years, with customer perceptions increasing from 52% in 2019 to 68% in 2025–26.
We will continue to engage with our communities, support local initiatives and ensure community perspectives help inform our planning and decision-making.
| Output | Unit | 23-24 | 24-25 | 25-26 | 26-27 | 27-28 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customers who believe we plan for the future (rating 'yes' in our annual customer satisfaction survey) | Percentage of survey respondents | Target | 46% | 47% | 48% | 49% | 50% |
| Actual | 36% | 42% | 39% | ||||
| How are we tracking for outcome 6 in the regulatory period so far? | Not on track | ||||||
Comment
We are committed to planning for the long-term needs of our customers, communities and the environment. In our annual customer satisfaction survey, 39% of customers indicated that they believe we plan for the future, below the target of 48%. While the result was slightly lower than the previous year, the change was not statistically significant.
This measure continues to be challenging because much of the work we undertake to plan for the future is long term in nature and not always visible to customers. During 2025–26, we continued to progress a range of initiatives to support the future needs of our region. This included developing our Urban Water Strategy 2027, progressing key projects identified through the Morwell/Traralgon Water System Master Plan, developing a staged upgrade plan for the Warragul Wastewater Treatment Plant to support future growth, securing strategic land for future infrastructure needs and continuing to deliver our Energy Management Strategy. These initiatives will help ensure our services remain reliable, sustainable and responsive to future community needs.
Despite this progress, customer perceptions of our future planning remain below target. Improving customer understanding of how we are planning for the future will continue to be a focus, including through engagement on our Urban Water Strategy, future infrastructure investments and development of our next Price Submission.