❓ The Minister for Water explains the Water Corporation's move to bi-monthly billing, aiming to smooth costs for households and encourage water conservation. A transitional bill will include past charges.
AnsweredQoN 336Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER CORPORATION — BILLING SYSTEM
336. MR N.W. MORTON to the Minister for Water :
Will the minister explain the changes to the Water
Corporation's billing system that will come into effect next week and
outline how these changes will benefit Western Australian householders?
336. MR N.W. MORTON to the Minister for Water :
Will the minister explain the changes to the Water
Corporation's billing system that will come into effect next week and
outline how these changes will benefit Western Australian householders?
AnswerView source ↗
Before I respond to that question, I acknowledge the students
from Great Southern Grammar who are in the public gallery. Both of my kids, who
are now 24 and 26, went to Great Southern Grammar. My daughter who was a
prefect there told my wife and me on Friday that she is going to get married.
That was not the slam dunk. The slam dunk is that it is going to be in three
weeks' time!
Several members interjected.
Mr D.T. REDMAN :
No, she is not pregnant. But I wish them all the best and I am looking forward
to it. So we in the Redman household are very excited at the moment.
I thank the member for Forrestfield
for the question. The government, through the Water Corporation, has made the
decision to change the Water Corporation's billing process for its
customers, and to move to a billing system that happens every two months. This
brings the corporations billing in line with a number of other utilities and is
a move away from the break-up of the service charges that typically happened on
an annual basis, which resulted in one large bill for the year to a six-monthly
bill for water use. It is a move away from receiving two bills over the year to
receiving a bill every two months. This will help to smooth out the bills to
customers, particularly those customers who find it difficult to manage the
bills they pay from month to month.
The Western Australian Council of
Social Service supports this change, which is pleasing, because it sees that
one of the biggest factors that affects peoples' incapacity to pay
bills are big lump sum bills, and water bills were one of those. Therefore,
bills will be issued once every two months. It combines the service charge
component with the water-use charge on a bimonthly basis. That is a very good
decision of the government. The other thing it will do is allow the timely
noticing of leaks.
Mr
F.M. Logan : Does that include Wellington Street?
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : It is a fact that if there is billing on a regular basis,
people know what their water consumption is, and they know that if that water
consumption departs significantly from their normal use pattern, they can
suspect there may well be a leak. This move also supports what much of the
Perth community wants—that is, to conserve water. It will mean that
they can on a fairly regular basis see the benefit of the products and
practices of water conservation. This is a good news story for Water
Corporation customers and I know the community will strongly support it.
By way of information, the first
bill will be a transitional bill, because it will be made up of not only the
next two months' service charge but also the last six months of water
consumption. That bill will cost less than they would normally have paid, but
it will be larger than the bill in the normal two-monthly billing process.
After that, customers will get onto a normal pattern and they will be able to
manage their bills more smoothly and evenly, and I am confident it will be well
received. I encourage customers to look at the My Water website and to move to
the paperless transactional process that has been put in place and also adopt
strategies for closely monitoring their water use. This is good news. It will
support those people in the community who find it challenging to pay their
bills.
from Great Southern Grammar who are in the public gallery. Both of my kids, who
are now 24 and 26, went to Great Southern Grammar. My daughter who was a
prefect there told my wife and me on Friday that she is going to get married.
That was not the slam dunk. The slam dunk is that it is going to be in three
weeks' time!
Several members interjected.
Mr D.T. REDMAN :
No, she is not pregnant. But I wish them all the best and I am looking forward
to it. So we in the Redman household are very excited at the moment.
I thank the member for Forrestfield
for the question. The government, through the Water Corporation, has made the
decision to change the Water Corporation's billing process for its
customers, and to move to a billing system that happens every two months. This
brings the corporations billing in line with a number of other utilities and is
a move away from the break-up of the service charges that typically happened on
an annual basis, which resulted in one large bill for the year to a six-monthly
bill for water use. It is a move away from receiving two bills over the year to
receiving a bill every two months. This will help to smooth out the bills to
customers, particularly those customers who find it difficult to manage the
bills they pay from month to month.
The Western Australian Council of
Social Service supports this change, which is pleasing, because it sees that
one of the biggest factors that affects peoples' incapacity to pay
bills are big lump sum bills, and water bills were one of those. Therefore,
bills will be issued once every two months. It combines the service charge
component with the water-use charge on a bimonthly basis. That is a very good
decision of the government. The other thing it will do is allow the timely
noticing of leaks.
Mr
F.M. Logan : Does that include Wellington Street?
Mr
D.T. REDMAN : It is a fact that if there is billing on a regular basis,
people know what their water consumption is, and they know that if that water
consumption departs significantly from their normal use pattern, they can
suspect there may well be a leak. This move also supports what much of the
Perth community wants—that is, to conserve water. It will mean that
they can on a fairly regular basis see the benefit of the products and
practices of water conservation. This is a good news story for Water
Corporation customers and I know the community will strongly support it.
By way of information, the first
bill will be a transitional bill, because it will be made up of not only the
next two months' service charge but also the last six months of water
consumption. That bill will cost less than they would normally have paid, but
it will be larger than the bill in the normal two-monthly billing process.
After that, customers will get onto a normal pattern and they will be able to
manage their bills more smoothly and evenly, and I am confident it will be well
received. I encourage customers to look at the My Water website and to move to
the paperless transactional process that has been put in place and also adopt
strategies for closely monitoring their water use. This is good news. It will
support those people in the community who find it challenging to pay their
bills.
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