Australia’s 225,000 life support customers will benefit from clearer processes, better communication options, and energy companies with improved information to better support them, under new national rules taking effect in December 2027.
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has published a final determination to improve the registration and communication processes for Australian households that rely on life support equipment.
The final rule maintains all existing life support protections while streamlining registration and communication processes.
A key improvement is enabling medical practitioners (doctors or specialists) to identify customers with life-threatening energy needs.
This information would help networks plan for outages more effectively and could support coordinated emergency responses, while maintaining identical protections for all life support customers.
AEMC Chair Anna Collyer said energy consumers’ safety is paramount, and life support protections play a vital role.
“These are some of our most vulnerable energy consumers - recent data shows more than 225,000 people are registered for life support protections. Our changes maintain existing protections while ensuring energy companies have the information they need to serve these customers well,” Ms Collyer said.
“If you’re already a life support customer, you won’t need to re-register or do anything differently. You’ll continue to receive exactly the same protections. We’ve updated the system to work better - not added burden to people already managing difficult circumstances.”
What’s changing
The final rule introduces several improvements to how energy retailers and networks register and communicate with life support customers:
- Better communication: customers can choose how they are contacted about planned outages (SMS, email or letter) and nominate an emergency contact person to be notified
- Streamlined registration: retailers will manage all registration and deregistration, making it clearer who customers should contact; all retailers will use the same standardised medical confirmation form developed by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and Victoria’s Essential Services Commission
- Regular check-ins: retailers must conduct annual check-ins to ensure customer details remain accurate and life support is still required, and also remind customers to review their emergency backup plan
- Clearer deregistration: faster deregistration when customers request it, with penalties for retailers who fail to comply
- Better information for networks: medical practitioners can indicate if a customer has life-threatening energy needs, giving networks information to plan for outages more effectively, while maintaining identical protections for all life support customers
Over time, as the new standardised medical form is introduced, existing life support customers and their doctors will have the option to indicate whether a customer has a life-threatening condition.
Energy distributors will be required to publish information on their websites about how they use this information. Retailers will also be required to ask all new customers whether they require life support protections when they sign up.
Ms Collyer said the final determination responds to a rule change request from SA Power Networks and Essential Energy. The Commission has made a more preferable final rule that incorporates many elements proposed in the rule change request.
“We’ve worked closely with Victoria’s Essential Services Commission to ensure consistent approaches where possible. The standardised medical form and processes will make access to life support protections clearer for customers, doctors and energy companies across the National Electricity Market,” Ms Collyer said.
“These improvements will help ensure the right information reaches the right people at the right time, particularly ahead of planned power outages when advance notice is critical.”
The AEMC’s assessment considered equity impacts to ensure the changes do not disadvantage vulnerable consumers, and address barriers that prevent some customers from fully benefiting from energy system protections.
The Commission also recommends governments consider establishing a central register to make things easier for life support customers - particularly when they move house or change energy companies - and to help emergency services, health departments and energy companies work together during crises.
The final rule takes effect on 1 December 2027, providing an 18-month implementation period for industry to update systems and processes, and for the AER and ESC Victoria to develop the standardised medical confirmation form.
Life support customers can access backup planning resources developed by the Energy Charter’s #BetterTogether initiative at lifesupport.poweroutageplan.com.au
Visit the project page for the final determination, final rule and information sheet.
About the AEMC
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is an independent statutory body that advises Australian governments on energy market rules and conducts reviews of the energy sector. The AEMC’s work is guided by the long-term interests of energy consumers – balancing reliability, safety affordability and emissions reduction in line with Australia’s energy transition.
Media: Jessica Rich, 0459 918 964, media@aemc.gov.au