AusNet annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources about the currency, completeness, maturity and implementation ability of its emergency risk management practices regarding the transmission of electricity, inclusive of assets, people, resources, governance, systems, processes and arrangements with contractors

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Participation in Regional Emergency Management Planning Committees and Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committees to support response planning for areas at high risk of prolonged power outages.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Application of best practice communication and engagement approaches before, during and after prolonged power outages including:
a. Inclusive design of customer service systems such as outage trackers and interactive voice response (IVR) systems with regular monitoring, evaluation, and feedback from customers with lived experience of vulnerability.
b. Capacity of customer service systems to meet surge demand and back-up continuity plans if these services fail.
c. Capability to provide on-the-ground support to communities during emergencies.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Adoption and operation of State Emergency Management Priorities including ‘make safe’.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Ability to undertake rapid impact assessment at a network-wide scale during an event including integration of:
a. mutual aid resources and state and regional emergency response teams
b. reports of damaged infrastructure by emergency services personnel and community members
c. consistent information flow through to the incident response and restoration planning teams

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Processes to report timely and accurate information about status to restore services and confirm ‘safe’ infrastructure to emergency services and communities.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Capability and capacity to achieve effective management of events and timely restoration of customers.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Review of emergency management practices including but not limited to review of risks and risk controls and testing of revised controls following all major events and exercises.

Distribution businesses annually attest to the Minister for Energy and Resources. The attestation should include specific reference to, but not limited to: Capacity and capability to connect main streets and key community assets in areas at high risk of prolonged power outages to temporary generation within 12 hours of an event. Information on location of temporary generation sites, network connection points and key access routes should be included in Regional Emergency Management Planning Committees and Municipal Emergency Management Planning Committees.

The Victorian Government amend the Emergency Management Act 2013 to:
a. allow the Minister responsible for the essential services of fuel, light and power to issue guidelines to ensure the responsible entity addresses the people, resources, governance, systems and processes, and the like required to support operational resilience of electricity as an essential service; and
b. require the statement of attestation to be approved by the entity board, council or other governing body, as the case requires.

The Victorian Government make explicit the support agency role of transmission and distribution businesses for electricity emergencies in the State Emergency Management Plan.

DEECA work with distribution businesses, emergency service agencies, and peak bodies to integrate prolonged power outage preparedness into existing business and household emergency preparedness plan templates by June 2025.

DEECA in conjunction with Emergency Management Victoria design and run a networkwide, multi-sector emergency exercise to test implementation of lessons learnt following the 13 February event and identify and remove barriers to effective coordination and response by September 2025

The Victorian Government and energy sector work with The Energy Charter #BetterTogether Life Support Customer Initiative to support and implement in Victoria a national approach to achieve better outcomes for life support customers that meets strong standards of consumer protection.

The Victorian Government advocates for stronger telecommunications service reliability outcomes from the Australian Government, and associated telecommunications reviews.

The Victorian Government to work with the Commonwealth Government and telecommunications carriers to ensure that there are appropriate arrangements, via existing services or alternatives, for communities to stay connected for 72 hours without network power supply.

Owners and operators of critical infrastructure should participate in Regional Emergency Management Planning Committees and ensure that they have appropriate arrangements for services to stay connected for 72 hours without network power supply – to be actioned immediately.

Victorian Government design and implement an Extended Loss of Supply Support Payment Scheme (ELOSS Payment) which requires distribution businesses to financially support customers during prolonged power outages. This will address community feedback about the Victorian Government Prolonged Power Outage Payment (PPOP) Elements of ELOSS are to include:.
a. Timely and daily customer payments after 72 hours up to a per customer maximum amount.
b. Distribution businesses to administer and fund ELOSS up to a maximum amount.
This recommendation should be implemented by June 2025

To support reliable electricity supply to communities impacted by prolonged power outages, a minimum service level standard should be introduced for Victorian distribution feeders, which if breached, requires remediation by the relevant distribution business. The service level standard must account for customers’ experience of prolonged power outages. This recommendation should be implemented by June 2025.

To quickly address unreliable power supply to known areas at risk of prolonged power outages, by December 2024 or earlier, the Minister for Energy should apply a licence condition for AusNet to: a. Improve realiability of the specified feeders; and b. Install network connection points to enable rapid installation of temporary generation in key township locations.

As part of its review of the Energy Retail Code of Practice, the ESC should include requirements for energy retailers to collect the phone and email contact details of customers and others in the household for the purpose of sharing with distributors to facilitate information about power outages. Retailers should be required to check data quality and share with distribution businesses regularly.

The Victorian Government consider implementing a principle based overarching consumer duty either through legislation or relevant regulatory instruments.

DEECA in conjunction with distribution businesses formalise mutual aid arrangements between all businesses to support effective management of prolonged power outage events to reduce time to restore outcomes for customers. Arrangements should include early consideration of mutual aid when a prolonged power outage event is likely to last more than 48 hours. This recommendation should be implemented by December 2024.

Distribution businesses to inform DEECA of properties with defect notices to support community recovery planning. DEECA work with peak bodies representing registered electrical contractors to ensure coordinated community recovery planning.

The Minister for Energy and Resources undertake an independent review of distribution businesses response to the next prolonged power outage event(s) against the recommendations and observations of the Network Outage Review with a view to identifying and removing barriers to achieving better outcomes for the community.

The Minister for Energy and Resources undertake an independent assessment of AusNet's emergency risk management practices for its transmission network including arrangements with contractors by September 2025.