Supplementary reporting items
Supplementary reporting items
Our Fraud and Corruption Control Framework outlines our commitment to creating an honest and ethical business environment with zero tolerance of fraud or corruption in any form. We perform a range of activities to prevent, detect and respond to fraud and corruption, including:
- executive oversight of our Fraud and Corruption Control Framework by the Chief Financial Officer as designated Fraud and Corruption Control Coordinator
- regular fraud and corruption risk assessments undertaken with risk treatment plans for high-risk areas
- investigations of all allegations of fraud or corruption in accordance with our Fraud and Corruption Control Framework
- data analytic reviews conducted on payroll and accounts payable transactions by our internal audit function
- communication to our people on their requirement to act in accordance with our Ethical Standards Procedure, how to report matters of concern and the protections provided to them in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2018. There were no instances of potential fraud externally reported in 2023-24.
Through our Public Interest Disclosure Procedure, we are committed to encouraging and facilitating disclosure, in the public interest, of information about substantial risks to public health, safety or the environment, or about corruption, misconduct and maladministration in public administration.
There were no new allegations of fraud, corruption, misconduct or maladministration substantiated or reported to the Office for Public Integrity or the Independent Commission Against Corruption South Australia in 2023-24.
Our enterprise risk management approach is aligned with the South Australian Government Risk Management Guide and the principles of risk management as set out in the international risk management standard ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management – Guidelines.
Our commitment to effective risk management enables consideration and treatment of risk that is integrated into functions, programs and operations with well informed,
risk-based decision making. Our enterprise risk profile is reported regularly to our Board through its Governance, Finance and Risk Committee.
Our Customer Care Centre is the first point of contact for all customer feedback and our customer advocate team manages responses for all escalated complaints and investigations. Across these 2 teams, we continue to proactively identify improvements to the feedback management processes across our business.
All forms of organisational feedback, including complaints, are valued and help us to build customer trust and confidence as well as improve our performance in delivering excellent customer experiences.
In 2023-24, we received a total of 3,198 complaints. This equated to 3.94 complaints per 1,000 customers, which is higher than the 3.55 complaints per 1,000 customers received in 2022-23. This increase was driven by our continued commitment to improving complaint recognition and capture, including broader training for our people in complaint management. The increase continues to be viewed as a positive indication of our improvement and has not been identified as a specific trend or operational issue at this time.
The most common complaint types received in 2023-24 related to:
- water quality
- operations and maintenance in the metropolitan Adelaide area
- meter reading and estimates. Of the customer complaints received, 41.39 per cent were resolved at the first point of customer contact, which is an increase from 36 per cent in 2022-23. We responded to 97.43 per cent of complaints within target times, with 7.74 per cent of complaints escalated to the industry ombudsman.
A total of 281 complaints on a range of issues were escalated to the Energy and Water Ombudsman of South Australia (EWOSA) for review in 2023-24. This was an increase from 184 complaints in 2022-23. The highest complaint type escalated to EWOSA remains, costs incurred for high water use, which has remained a consistent trend over the past 3 years.
Through our complaint management process, the customer advocate team completes root cause analyses, post complaint reviews and case studies for complaints throughout the year. Case studies include a full account of the complaint details, a summary of the case investigation, the outcomes, and any applicable process improvement recommendations.
We continue to review our processes, strive for best practice guidelines and improve our recognition and capture of customer complaints at first contact. This work is designed to collect insights for our business and improve our overall customer experience.
In 2023-24, 1,367 new customers joined our Payment Assistance Program. The program helps residential customers with support to help pay their bills. At 30 June 2024, 2,732 residential customers had participated in a financial hardship program with a $2,590 average bill balance. The program connects customers with support to help them better manage their bills, and in 2023-24, 834 residential customers successfully exited the program.
Recognising the financial constraints that many people are experiencing, we proactively promoted the Payment Assistance Program, targeting people who were experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, financial hardship. We saw a positive impact with increased inquiries about support available, both through payment extensions and the Payment Assistance Program.
