Community panel shaping the future of water services in the south-east

A 50-member community panel selected from across Melbourne’s south-east and the Mornington Peninsula has started helping shape the future of water, sewerage and recycled water services in the area, as part of South East Water’s 5-year plan for the region, starting 2028. 

The panel’s recommendations will help guide future investment and service priorities for the region from 1 July 2028 to 30 June 2033.

South East Water provides water and sewerage services to around 1.9 million people from Port Melbourne to Portsea and east to Pakenham. With one of Australia’s most diverse customer bases, broad and representative community engagement is essential to planning for the future.  

Across 7 sessions between August and December, panel members will hear from South East Water employees to learn more about the organisation’s services and discuss future challenges and investment priorities. While sessions will cover important topics including climate change, service reliability, and delivering value for money, panel members will be encouraged to bring forward issues of importance to them and influence the agenda to ensure discussions reflect customer priorities and interests.

The panel builds on South East Water's biggest-ever community engagement campaign, which heard from thousands of customers across the service area about what matters most to them. Feedback was gathered through local events, markets and festivals, as well as online activities, workshops, roundtables and surveys.

Dedicated engagement opportunities also provided opportunities for young people, multicultural communities, Traditional Owners, businesses and other groups to participate.

South East Water General Manager Strategy and Stakeholder, Karen Lau said the panel puts customers at the centre of decisions that will help shape the region's water future.

“Every day, around 1.9 million people rely on our services. Planning for the future means making careful decisions about the services we provide, the infrastructure we invest in and how we continue delivering value for our customers and communities.

"By bringing together people with different experiences and perspectives, the panel will help us better understand our customers' priorities as we balance reliability and investment to meet the needs of a growing region."

The panel will provide its recommendations to South East Water in December 2026.  South East Water will consider the recommendations and report back to customers and the Community Panel on how their feedback has helped shape the final 5-year plan.

The final plan, known as the Price Submission, will be lodged with the Essential Services Commission in September 2027.

For more information about Price Submission 2028–33, visit https://engage.southeastwater.com.au/pipeline