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Customer engagement
Our Water, Our Voice
Through 6 phases of customer engagement over 2 years, Our Water, Our Voice has been a journey we've taken with our customers to understand what matters to you. The insights we've gained, and will continue to gain, mean that together we can shape the future of your water services to create thriving, liveable and sustainable communities.
Your voice matters
In July 2022 we began a dialogue with customers through Our Water, Our Voice, our largest customer engagement program to date. We engaged on a wide range of topics to ask questions about water and water services, a direct line with customers to tell us what matters most, then, now and in the future.
Through the engagement journey, we gained valuable insights into our customers' priorities. We learned what customers expect us to deliver and why. In our 135-year history this program provided the greatest opportunity for customers to influence what we do and how we do it.
What customers told us through customer engagement has had have a direct impact on our water services, waterways and communities, now and for future generations.
- Here's a snapshot of the highlights of Our Water, Our Voice.
- You can find a comprehensive Our Water, Our Voice FAQ drawn from the questions asked by customers who took part in our customer engagement program.
- For a more comprehensive look at the program, please see Our Water, Our Voice Customer Engagement Strategy.
Our Water, Our Voice: how we've used the insights
Hearing from customers was invaluable in shaping our strategy, investments and our 2025–30 price proposal and Operating Licence submission that we submitted to our regulator, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). The findings from Our Water, Our Voice guided what we told IPART about the services and service levels we'll provide, and what our customers may be willing to pay for those services and service levels for the next 5 years. We worked hard to balance priorities, be efficient and avoid unnecessary costs to develop a price proposal that's fair and aligned with customer needs and preferences.
Thank you for sharing your views
Throughout our customer engagement journey, we've welcomed your participation. We thank all customers who took part in every phase and form of engagement to date. In particular, we thank everyone who participated in the validation surveys we posted here. Since we submitted our latest price proposal to IPART for assessment, you have had another opportunity to share your views as part of IPART's public consultation process.
Your voice is important.
Why we engaged with customers
We're in a period of change together with housing shortages, ageing infrustructure and an increasing cost of living and doing business. As our population grows and temperatures rise, so will the demand for water. We'll need to continue to deliver a safe, reliable and sustainable water supply for our customers, as well as provide safe and reliable wastewater and stormwater services. We'll also need to consider alternative water supplies, protect the health of our waterways and communities and meet changing customer needs. With all these considerations, we wanted to ask you, our customer, what you prioritise.
We understand all these pressures. So, we're committed to providing opportunities for you to tell us what's important to help shape the way we respond to the challenges facing Greater Sydney.
The 3 major factors that require us to change include growing cities, climate change and customer expectations.
How customer insights help shape our future plans
Long-term planning
We committed to using the insights from Our Water, Our Voice to influence and build our long-term strategy and our business plan. These insights will directly impact our investments to maintain and improve our services into the future. We'll keep you updated with the findings and our strategic plans for each step we make.
Water services and service levels
The insights we gained from Our Water, Our Voice guided our 2025–30 price proposal to IPART. This way, bills in the 2025 to 2030 period will reflect what's important to you, because you told us.
Our Water, Our Voice has also directly impacted:
- our Operating Licence and Customer Contract to IPART
- our Long-Term Capital and Operational Plan (LTCOP).
Inclusion and representation
We've ensured that all our customers could have a say through proper representation across Greater Sydney, including the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains. We spoke to diverse audience groups covering:
- age
- gender
- region
- CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse)
- First Nations peoples
- people with disability
- financially vulnerable
- developers
- business customers – small, medium and large
- valuemakers, e.g. plumbers, managing agents
- government stakeholders
Open and transparent process
We conducted this customer engagement journey – Our Water, Our Voice – with research, economic and cultural partners. Our partners helped us ask the questions, collate the feedback and assess the insights.
We collaborate closely with a Customer and Community Reference Group (CCRG). The CCRG is independently chaired with members representing different views and interests from across the community and our customer base. The CCRG works alongside Sydney Water as an independent voice, assisting us to ensure that our strategic plans, investment decisions and regulatory submissions are in the best long-term interests of customers and the community.
The journey we've taken with customers
This important journey has captured the priorities and outcomes that our customers expect us to deliver in the future and customers' views on paying for these services.
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Timeline
1. July 2022 – January 2023
Phase 1
Capturing customer priorities
2. November 2022 – January 2023
Phase 2
Capturing customer service insights
3. November 2022 – August 2023
Phase 3
Customer insights for better business planning
4. May 2023 – February 2024
Phase 4
Service levels and investments for the future
5. August 2023 – May 2024
Phase 5
Customer-recommended price proposal – Part 1
6. October 2023 – August 2024
Phase 6
Customer-recommended price proposal – Part 2
7. June 2023 – June 2024
Phase 1
IPART review of our Operating Licence; new 2024–2028 Operating Licence began 1 July 2024
8. September 2024
Our 2025–30 price proposal submitted to IPART
9. October 2024 – May 2025
IPART reviews our price proposal with a 3-month extension
10. May 2025
IPART releases Draft Report and Determination