The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS), alongside community services sector organisations and energy consumer advocates, has made a joint submission responding to the Essential Services Commission’s Victorian Default Offer (VDO) 2026–27 draft decision. The submission welcomes the draft decision’s proposed average three per cent reduction in electricity standing offer prices, noting any easing in the cost of an essential service will bring relief amid ongoing cost-of-living pressures. It also cautions that updated inputs ahead of the final decision, including network costs, could erode these savings, and highlights that the VDO rose sharply in 2023–24, with subsequent reductions not yet returning prices to earlier levels.

The submission situates the draft decision in the context of an emerging fuel supply crisis and outlines the flow-on impacts for households already under strain, as well as the community sector organisations supporting people experiencing payment difficulty. It reaffirms strong support for the VDO as a critical safeguard and benchmark for a fair and efficient market price, including its role as a price cap for customers in embedded networks. The submission also responds to the Victorian Government’s announced Midday Power Saver offer, welcoming potential benefits while emphasising that many households cannot shift usage to the middle of the day, and calling for robust regulatory safeguards, transparency, and complementary measures to deliver genuine affordability, including consideration of targeted supports such as a social tariff.

This is a joint submission made by:

• Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS)
• Community Information and Support Victoria
• Consumer Action Law Centre
• Council on the Ageing Victoria, and Seniors Rights Victoria
• Energy Consumers Australia
• Financial Counselling Victoria
• Uniting Vic Tas
• Westjustice