An energy retailer has been fined almost $1.7 million for failing to protect the personal information of family violence victims.
On Friday, the Essential Services Commission revealed Engie, previously known as Simply Energy, paid almost $1,676,104 in penalties over breaches of Victorian energy rules.
Engie headquarters in Paris.Credit: Bloomberg
A financial counsellor in 2023 told the regulator that Engie did not follow rules around family violence, with the commission later gathering evidence to allege the company failed to prevent victims’ personal information from being disclosed without their consent.
The commission found Engie had failed to find out customers’ preferred communication method. It also failed to avoid making family violence victims repeatedly disclose or refer to their experiences.
The retailer breached family violence rules 113 times between January 2020 and March this year, affecting 65 family violence victims, the commission said.
Essential Services Commission chairperson Gerard Brody told this masthead this was the largest fine issued by the commission regarding family violence rules.
“Sending a bill or correspondence to an address other than the safe address specified by a customer has the potential to expose account and address information to a perpetrator of family violence,” he said.
Essential Services Commission chairperson Gerard Brody.
“Any increased risk to a family violence affected customer – whether physical harm eventuates as a result – can impact these customers experiencing vulnerabilities, causing emotional distress and concern for their safety and the safety of their family.”
Brody said customers impacted by family violence “need to have confidence that their account information will not be inadvertently provided by an energy retailer or business to a perpetrator”.
The regulator fined Engie almost $1.3 million over family violence-related provisions and more than $380,000 over its reporting obligations.
A spokesperson from Engie confirmed the company had updated its policies and procedures and provided staff with training to ensure “this doesn’t happen again”.
“Far too many Victorians are impacted by the scourge of family violence, and as a responsible energy provider we need to be part of the solution,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“We’ve not lived up to this standard, but we do not and will not accept mistakes being made in our support of customers experiencing family violence.
“We’ve made meaningful improvements to our call handling training and processes to prevent errors and have recommitted to the highest duty of care.”
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