Our main commitments to our customers, community and environment, and how we measure our progress in delivering on them (based on our Corporate Strategy 2028, customer strategy, 5-year customer commitment and annual corporate plans)

1. Delivering for our customers and supporting our community every day   

  • Delivering high-quality, safe and reliable water and sewerage services. 
  • Being easy to deal with and providing great customer service, each and every time you need us.
  • Upgrading and replacing assets at risk of failure to make spills and bursts less likely (and investment in smart tools to provide alerts of out-of-the-ordinary water use, resulting in fewer unplanned service disruptions or leaks - and more notice if they do happen). 
  • Going the extra mile for customers who need support and always putting safety first, including your wellbeing, financial support and data security
  • Ensuring our investments align with the current and future needs and expectations of all our customers, including improved support for business customers.
  • Better understanding what you need and building lifelong partnerships with you.

Our priority activity

Targets and measures

Increased investment in water quality.

Updating assets and expanding capacity through:​

  • Mount Martha Water Recycling Plant upgrade*​
  • Hanna Street capacity upgrade*​
  • Longwarry Water Recycling Plant upgrade.* 

Digital meter and sensor rollout*.  

Expanding our safety net so more customers are eligible.

Increased investment each year to support customers experiencing hardship (through a range of grants, allowances and credits).

Investing more in smart tools and using data to identify those who may need our help to reduce bill shock and their need for longer-term help.

Implementing a Voice of Customer program and expanding our existing customer surveys to measure customer sentiment across a broader range of touchpoints and ensuring insights are translated into meaningful activities to improve customer experience. 

Providing customer experience awareness training across the entire organisation and establishing a customer champion model and community of practice forum to increase awareness of customer needs and expectations across all business units.
  • Number of Safe Drinking Water Act non-compliances (water sampling and audit)*
  • Percentage of customers experiencing more than 5 unplanned disruptions in a 12-month period (water, sewer and water quality)*
  • Customers notified per unplanned water supply interruption as a percentage of customers affected*
  • Total number of customers supported (provided financial assistance)*
  • Percentage of customers with arrears older than 90 days who have received financial or payment assistance*
  • Increased customer satisfaction scores year-on-year with South East Water (scores of 7 and above in customer surveys)*
  • Overall community trust in South East Water (scores of 7 or above in customers surveys)*

 

 

 

 

 

2. Helping you save water and money   

  • Empowering all our customers to be vigilant  about water usage and the role each of us plays in saving a precious resource.
  • Scaling up our digital water meter and sensor rollout, providing more customers with timely visibility of your water use, including spikes in usage that may be caused by leaks, before they impact your bill.  
  • New measures around detection of leaks, water savings and digital meters we’ve installed.

Our priority activity

Targets and measures

Digital water meter and sensor rollout*

Upgrading our organisation’s IT systems to make sure they speak seamlessly to each other and we’re better able to action the data generated by our digital rollout. 

Increase our community presence for our most vulnerable districts and creating programs specific to these areas to improve water knowledge and reduce bill shock.

Improving our website with useful water-saving information.

 
 
  • Total volume of water saved through digital detection of network leaks (ML)*​
  • Customer savings realised through repair of digital meter-detected property leaks*​
  • Percentage of existing properties upgraded to a digital meter*
  • Reduce overall water usage by 1.5% across our network

3. Making your experience better  

  • More choice in how you interact with us, including more and improved self-service options​
  • ​Using data to make sure each touchpoint we have with you is consistent and joined up, to help us build a better picture of you and what you need
  • New measures around inbound customer contact reflect our commitment to more customers finding what  you need from our self-service channels at a time that suits you. 

Our priority activity

Targets and measures

Adopting the latest technologies, and using improved data to build a better picture of you and what you need. 

Investing more in smart tools and using improved data to build a better picture of you and what you need. 

Enhancing our mobile app and corporate website to provide an improved browsing experience.

Improving our self-service options to give you more choice in how you interact with us. 
  • Overall customer satisfaction with South East Water (scores of 7 and above in customer surveys)*
  • Total number of customers supported (provided financial or payment assistance)* 
  • Percentage of customers with arrears older than 90 days who have received financial or payment assistance*

4. Protecting our environment, securing our future 

  • Acknowledging the responsibility we have to our customers, community and environment – and the impact of what we do now, into the future.
  • Helping facilitate our community's knowledge and awareness of how we use water.​
  • Continuing to focus on our commitment to reduce emissions, address impact of climate change and reconsider waste.
  • Increasing the amount of recycled water we can generate, to secure our drinking water supply.
  • Increasing capacity to address population growth in the south-east. 
  • Partnering strategically with our key business accounts and enhancing relationships with the local communities within our service area.

Our priority activity

Targets and measures

Increased investment to work with and learn from Traditional Owners about their connection with land and water.

Continuing to focus on our commitment to net zero emissions by 2030.

Investment to deliver on our Climate Adapt Action Plan.

Expanding supply of Class A recycled water: 

  • Westernport Irrigation Scheme (Stage 1)*
  • Dingley Recycled Water Scheme*
  • Building the water recycling and mining plants at Fishermans Bend*

Upgrading wastewater treatment and resource recovery in the south-east:

  • South-east Regional Biofactory*
  • Westernport Irrigation Scheme*
  • Ballarto Road East pump station and rising main*

 

  • Total net greenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e)*​
  • Number of EPA  reportable sewer spills* ​
  • Water literacy of South East Water customers (captured via survey responses to a series of industry indicators)*​
  • Alternative water as a percentage of total water supplied to all customers*
  • Establish business-customer specific customer satisfaction metrics and year on year improvements.

 

  

*We’ll report back 6-monthly on our progress against our 2023-28 measures, targets and major projects here on our website and via socials. 

Our major projects and programs for 2023–28  

Digital water meter rollout  
  • Significantly scaling up work we started in 2018-23 to replace old mechanical meters with digital meters containing sensors right across our service region.  
  • With access to a portal, customers can monitor their water usage for any out-of-the-ordinary activity.

Read more

Hanna Street capacity upgrade 
  • In stage 2 of the upgrade, continuing to update and increase the capacity of the 1890s-built branch sewer network in South Melbourne / Southbank to cater for population growth. 
  • Reducing the impacts of extreme wet weather events caused by climate change.  

 

South-east Regional Biofactory 
  • Stage 1 will involve design and early works for the new energy-efficient water treatment and recycling plant.
  • Easing capacity and accommodating growth in the south-eastern corridor.
  • Supporting emissions reduction and meeting our environmental compliance responsibilities.
 
Mount Martha Water Recycling Plant upgrade  
  • Updating the plant so it meets our environmental compliance responsibilities.
  • Increasing capacity and expanding life of the plant.

Read more

Westernport Irrigation Scheme 
  • Stage 1 of the project is to expand the supply of Class A recycled water from the Pakenham Water Recycling Plant, catering for demand in the growing Casey-Cardinia region.  

Read more

 
Longwarry Water Recycling Plant upgrade 
  • Stage 3 of the project will involve making sure the plant meets our environmental compliance obligations and increasing capacity to meet predicted growth in catchment. 
 
Fishermans Bend Water Recycling Plant and sewer connection
  • Delivering a water recycling plant to mine the city’s sewage and treat it to Class A recycled water standard, in one of Australia’s largest urban renewal projects.

Read more

Dingley Recycled Water Scheme
  • Expanding the supply of Class A recycled water to irrigate green spaces and cater for a growing population in the Dingley green wedge, through a new distribution main. 

 

Ballarto Rd East Pump Station and rising main
  • Building a permanent sewerage system to meet demand in the growing Clyde catchment.  
Lang Lang Water Recycling Plant upgrade
  • Stage 2 of the project will involve upgrading our disinfection processes and managing biosolids to increase capacity and meet our compliance obligations. 

 

Our Price Submission 2023–28

In person and online, our customers told us a consistent story about what they expect from us and what they value, as part of the customer engagement for our price submission.

Your feedback and ideas have helped shape our commitments for 2023–28.  

Read more
How we tracked against our 2018–23 commitments 

We've been proud to be supporting you with reliable services and stable pricing as we've aimed to deliver against the areas you told us you value the most. 

Read more