Australian Capital Territory
Utilities Act (Electricity Full Retail Competition Public Awareness Campaign) Ministerial Direction 2002 (No. 1)
Disallowable instrument DI2002—200
made under the
Utilities Act 2000, s19 (Ministerial directions)

Pursuant to section 19 of the Act, I direct the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission to develop and implement a public awareness campaign for the introduction of full retail competition for electricity in the ACT in accordance with the guidelines set out in the schedule. 

Ted Quinlan
Treasurer
13 November 2002

Schedule

INTRODUCTION OF FRC IN ELECTRICITY IN THE ACT
PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
GUIDELINES TO ICRC
Primary aim
To inform all ACT electricity consumers about the availability of choice of electricity retailer as from 1 March 2003 and the corresponding rights and obligations of consumers.
Participants
The campaign will involve the following parties:
•	ACT Government, with responsibility to oversee the campaign; and
•	Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC), with carriage of conducting the campaign in conjunction with licensed retailers, ActewAGL Distribution, ESCC, ACTCOSS, and other social welfare groups/community representatives.
Target population
All ACT electricity consumers.
Timeframe
The campaign will be commenced at least two months prior to the introduction of electricity FRC on 1 March 2003, with campaign activities to be ongoing as required.
Budget
The indicative cost of the campaign will be up to $200,000, to be recovered, to the extent possible, through electricity supplier licensing fees.

Content
The public awareness campaign will include information relating to the following:
•	The availability of electricity retailer choice in the open market effective 1 March 2003;
•	Consumers’ rights and obligations;
•	Transitional arrangements regarding default/safety net tariff;
•	List of licensed electricity retailers;
•	Rebate arrangements for pensioners and other relevant beneficiaries;
•	Complaints handling through the ESCC;
•	Procedures for measuring or determining the amount of electricity consumed, including load profiling or metering;
•	Retailer of Last Resort provisions;
•	Continuity of electricity supply whether or not customers are changing their retailer;
•	Information available in major languages other than English; and
•	Enquiries/Contact details, including telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.
Information Channels
The campaign will employ such local communication channels as appropriate, including:
•	major media outlets such as radio, television and print media;
•	letter-box drops;
•	websites;
•	existing ACT Government community consultation forums; and
•	others as required.