Important Changes to Energy Customer Protections from 1 July 2026
Changes Under National Energy Rules
From 1 July 2026, changes to the National Energy Retail Rules will take effect under the National Energy Retail Amendment (Improving consumer confidence in retail energy plans) Rule 2025 No. 3 which will affect how energy is supplied across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania.
No action required: These changes will automatically apply to your Electricity Supply Agreement (Contract) with Altogether. You do not need to take any action.
Effective date: 1 July 2026
At a glance
From 1 July 2026, new changes will:
- Limit when tariffs, charges and ‘energy payments’ can change
- Restrict certain fees that can be charged by us
- Require at least one fee-free payment option
- Add new requirements relating to conditional discounts and benefits
These regulatory changes do not automatically change or affect your current tariffs, charges or energy payments. Any changes to your tariffs, charges or energy payments will be notified to you in accordance with the requirements set out below.
What is Changing?
Changes to Prices and Energy Payments
These new changes will place limits on when we can increase or decrease prices or energy payments, such as solar feed-in tariffs.
This means:
- Timing: We may only increase your tariffs and charges that you pay or decrease ‘energy payments’ that you receive (such as a solar feed-in tariff) once per year which must only take effect in July. This means that your tariffs and charges can only be increased (and any ‘energy payments’ can only be decreased) in July of each year.
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Notice of changes: Changes to your tariffs, charges and ‘energy payments’ will be notified to you as follows:
- where we increase your tariffs or charges or decrease an ‘energy payment’ payable to you, we will give you at least 10 business days’ prior written notice;
- where we decrease your tariffs or charges, we will give you at least 5 business days’ prior written notice; and
- where we increase an ‘energy payment’ payable to you, we will notify you as soon as practicable and by no later than your next bill.
- Distributor reassignments: These requirements do not apply to changes to your tariffs, charges or ‘energy payments’ that are a direct result of a tariff reassignment by your distributor. We will notify you of such changes as soon as practicable and by no later than your next bill.
Changes to discounts and Benefits
Better Protection When Discounts or Benefits End
If your Contract includes a benefit that expires after a fixed period, we cannot charge you an energy rate higher than our standing offer prices for your property once the benefit ends.
Changes to Conditional Discounts
If your Contract includes a conditional discount, such as a pay-on-time discount, new changes will apply from 1 July 2026.
These changes will limit when that discount can be withheld, including that any conditional discount reflects a reasonable estimate of the actual costs incurred when the condition is not met
If a conditional discount exceeds that threshold, we must apply it to your account regardless of whether you met the condition.
New Restrictions on Fees
From 1 July 2026, we will no longer charge the following fees:
- De-energisation fees
- Re-energisation fees
- Any fee that exceeds a reasonable estimate of the costs we actually incur in providing the service
The new changes will also restrict fees for meter reading associated with starting or ending a contract and account establishment fees. These are not currently charged by Altogether.
Additional protections apply to a ‘hardship customer’, a residential customer experiencing payment difficulties, or a customer who is or may be affected by family violence.
For these customers, we will not charge any fees under the Contract (other than network charges from your distributor that we pass through to you). This includes, for example, card payment fees and late payment fees, customers experiencing financial hardship, payment difficulties, or family violence.
Free Payment Option
We are required to provide at least one commonly used and accessible payment method free of charge.
Altogether will continue to offer BPAY as a fee-free payment option.
Energy Payments
The National Energy Retail Rules now formally defines "energy payments".
These are payments or credits provided by us for services supplied under your Contract, such as:
- Solar feed-in tariffs
- Demand response or demand reduction payments
If you do not receive any ‘energy payments’ under your Contract, this change does not affect your current arrangements.
Updated Contract Terms
These changes will automatically apply to your Contract from 1 July 2026. As your Contract will be automatically updated to reflect these changes, you do not need to sign a new agreement or take any action.
We have updated our contract terms to reflect these changes, and the updated terms are available on our website at Customer contract - energy – Altogether Group.
Where there is any inconsistency between the terms of your Contract and the new requirements under the National Energy Retailer Rules, the new requirements will apply from 1 July 2026.
Support and Assistance
Hardship Support
If you are experiencing financial difficulty, please contact us as early as possible.
We may be able to provide assistance through payment plans, payment extensions, or other support measures available under our Hardship Policy.
Our Hardship Policy outlines the support options available to eligible customers.
Our Hardship Policy is available via this link Altogether Group Hardship Policy.
Family Violence Support
We are committed to supporting customers who may be affected by family violence through dedicated assistance and protections.
If you require support, please contact us and we will work with you confidentially to identify appropriate assistance options.
Our Family Violence Policy is available via this link Altogether Group Family Violence Policy.
Energy Ombudsman Services
If you are not satisfied with our response to a complaint or enquiry, you may contact the Energy Ombudsman in your state or territory free of charge.
New South Wales
Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON)
- Phone: 1800 246 545
- Website: www.ewon.com.au
Queensland
Energy & Water Ombudsman Queensland (EWOQ)
- Phone: 1800 662 837
- Website: www.ewoq.com.au
Need More Information?
If you have any questions about these changes or would like to discuss your current plan, please contact our team.
Phone: 1300 806 806
Online: https://www.altogethergroup.com.au/about/contact-us/customer
You can also learn more about the rule changes on the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) website at www.aemc.gov.au.