Family Violence Policy

Our customers who experience family violence have the right to;

• Receive confidential and respectful conversations;
• Be provided with a dedicated point of contact and be provided with a direct line;
• Feel safe and have the flexibility and time consider their options
• Have your privacy protected and your account secured;
• Be automatically placed into our Coliban Assist Program;
• Suspension of payment, reduced payment instalments and / or partial or full debt waivers, on a case-by-case basis. 
• Continuity of service and be exempt from debt collection processes, restriction and related costs.
• Receive information about financial support and assistance available and be provided with links to specialised support networks;

Contact our Customer Care Team on 03 5434 1308 for a confidential discussion. 
 

View our Family Violence Statement (PDF 132KB)

Our customers who experience family violence have the right to;

• Receive confidential and respectful conversations;
• Be provided with a dedicated point of contact and be provided with a direct line;
• Feel safe and have the flexibility and time consider their options
• Have your privacy protected and your account secured;
• Be automatically placed into our Coliban Assist Program;
• Suspension of payment, reduced payment instalments and / or partial or full debt waivers, on a case-by-case basis. 
• Continuity of service and be exempt from debt collection processes, restriction and related costs.
• Receive information about financial support and assistance available and be provided with links to specialised support networks;
   

We are committed to providing leadership in preventing all forms of family violence to create a safe, inclusive and respectful community. We are committed to the following outcomes in support of this Policy:

Staff training 

Our customer facing teams and our Customer Team Managers are trained to look for identifiers and indicators of family violence, responding to the complex issues associated with family violence so that they can work and engage with customers in a respectful and appropriate manner. We commit to an ongoing training regime to ensure that we can identify and adapt to the unique needs of each individual customer and ensure customer safety protections are utilised. 

Family violence disclosure

• Customers who are identified or self-identify family violence will be protected and shielded from repeating their lived experienced. We will provide for a dedicated single point of entry through our trained specialists in our Customer Care Team. We will assign a dedicated case manager and provide you with a direct contact number where requested.

• We recognise that you, as a customer, may seek assistance from an external service or agency. Organisations supporting a victim will not be asked to repeat their lived experience and can access our dedicated single point of entry. 

Action for non-payment

We recognise that family violence is a potential cause of payment difficulties. Customers who self-disclose or are identified as experiencing family violence will be referred to the Customer Care Team where their accounts will be individually case managed. Victims of family violence will be included in the Coliban Assist Program to shield them from restriction and/or legal action. Accounts will be secured and not visible or accessible to staff outside of the Customer Care Team as an additional layer or security and protection. Measures such as password can also be utilised for additional security measures.

Joint accounts 

• Each customer’s individual circumstances will be considered, and a solution will be tailored to the individual’s needs.
• Where a joint account holder is a perpetrator, the account will be secured at the request of either account holder to ensure a victim’s personal information is protected. 

Individual Account Management

We will assess each individual’s circumstances and will provide a solution under our Coliban Assist Program. This may include;

• Tailored payment arrangements that can include payment matching programs.
• Access to Utility Relief Grants and concession entitlements where eligibility exists.
• Suspension of debt, reduced payment instalments and / or partial or full debt waivers, assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Information Management

• Family violence can affect anyone at any time. While customers may reveal that they are affected by family violence and request relevant account protections, it cannot be assumed that accounts without these protections do not belong to customers experiencing family violence. Therefore, personal information of all customers must be kept confidential and always handled securely.
• All personal information concerning family violence will be kept confidential in line with Coliban Water’s Privacy Policy, which includes the Information Privacy Principles (IPPs), Information Access Restrictions Policy and the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.
  However, the IPPs permit the use and disclosure of personal information in certain circumstances. This includes when the organisation reasonably believes that the use or disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious and imminent threat to an individual’s life, health, safety or welfare, a serious threat to public health, public safety or public welfare or taking appropriate action in relation to suspected unlawful activity or serious improper conduct.
• Coliban Water has internal process to identify potential customers experiencing family violence and ensure that their personal details are managed with the highest degree of privacy and sensitivity. We will continue to build capacity in this area through the provision of specialised training for members of the Customer Care team and annual awareness training for all staff.  All personal information will be securely handled remain confidential.

Support and assistance

• Coliban Water may refer customers to other external support networks for further assistance. Coliban Water will continue to develop strong relationships with external support networks to fully assist our customers and employees. Coliban Water will publish on our website, and keep up to date, the assistance, and referrals available to customers affected by family violence and how customers can access this assistance.
• Coliban Water recognises there may be customers that are perpetrators of family violence (either actual or alleged). Safety is paramount in this circumstance and Coliban Water staff who witness perpetration of family violence may call Victoria Police. Perpetrators will be referred to the relevant support services for assistance.
• Customers affected by family violence who experience payment difficulty or difficulty meeting payment timeframes or conditions will be provided with support, such as payment plans, adjusted payment terms, debt forgiveness, or government-administered grants and assistance, including Utility Relief Grants or the Community Rebates (Plumber Assist Program).

• Coliban Water will offer to waive debt for customers impacted by family violence where there is no capacity to repay the debt, or repayment of the debt will affect the customers’ ability to;
  - leave a violent or abusive situation, or
  - re-establish themselves after fleeing family violence.

• The provision of assistance is assessed on a case-by-case basis, considering customer and staff safety, as well as any criteria imposed by external agencies such as the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA).

• Coliban Water will provide a copy of this Policy to customers upon request.

Zero-tolerance approach

We take a zero-tolerance approach to perpetrators using water services to perpetrate family violence and financial abuse.

• Coliban Water will not restrict the water supply at a property where family violence has been identified or self-disclosed.
• Our employees receive training to identify acts of family violence and financial abuse and will not knowingly collude with perpetrators.
• If a Coliban Water employee or contractor identifies that a perpetrator is using a water service or account to perpetrate family violence or financial abuse, we will undertake the reasonable steps to stop the identified abuse and prevent further acts of abuse.
• We may refuse requests from customers, such as requests for refunds or account maintenance, if we suspect that the request is being made to perpetrate family violence.

This policy and any associated procedures and policies will be reviewed annually. This policy will continue in operation until replaced by a subsequent version or rescinded.
 

We accept the definition of family violence as defined in the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) as:

Behaviour by a person towards a family member of that person if that behaviour:

• is physically or sexually abusive; or
• is emotionally or psychologically abusive; or
• is economically abusive; or
• is threatening; or
• is coercive; or
• in any other way controls or dominates the family member and causes that family member to feel fear for the safety or wellbeing of that family member or another person.

Or behaviour by a person that causes a child to hear or witness, or otherwise be exposed to the effects of, behaviour referred to above.
 

If you have are not satisfied with how we have handled your situation our Customer Charter provides for your rights under our complaint process. These include;

• That if you request a written reply we will respond to your enquiry or complaint within 10 business days; and
• That a reply to your enquiry or complaint will deal with the substance of the enquiry or complaint, or we will tell you when you will receive such a reply if the enquiry or complaint is complex; and
• The reasons for a decision to be given in response to you, including details of the legislative or policy basis for the reasons if appropriate;

OR if a complaint escalation process that gives you:

• The opportunity to raise the complaint up to the level of a senior manager within our management structure if you are not satisfied with our response to a complaint; and
• Information about referral to Energy and Water Ombudsman of Victoria (EWOV) and any other relevant external dispute resolution forum in the event that you have raised the complaint to a higher level and are not satisfied with our response; and
• That we are restricted in our ability to recover an amount of money which is in dispute until the dispute has been resolved; and
• That the person lodging a compliant is informed of the matters above.