An Australian energy company has been fined more than $760,000 for repeatedly disclosing the home addresses of family violence victim-survivors to their abusers.
Victoria’s Essential Services Commission (ESC) issued the $764,380 penalty to Momentum Energy after finding the company failed to protect the confidential information of three customers on 19 occasions between May 2022 and January 2025.
According to the ESC, the company revealed sensitive details – including residential addresses – to perpetrators 15 times and sent correspondence about payment assistance to locations controlled by, or accessible to, the abusers.
In one case, a customer told the company in 2022 they were a victim of family violence but was not offered a safe communication method. Momentum continued to send letters to a post office box the customer had not controlled for two years. The matter was not investigated until the customer raised it again in 2025.
The ESC said that while Momentum identified the breaches in 2023, it failed to take corrective action for two years – a delay described as unacceptable.
Essential Services Commissioner Gerard Brody said the fine reflected the seriousness of the company’s failure to protect vulnerable customers.
“When a victim-survivor discloses family violence to their retailer, they are placing their trust in that business,” he said.
“They should feel confident that doing so will help keep them safe.”
Safe and Equal chief executive Tania Farha welcomed the regulator’s action but said the energy and water sectors needed to do more to protect customers experiencing family violence.
“Businesses need to build their capabilities around recognising and responding to family violence — what it can look like, how those signs can present in their specific context and how they can appropriately respond,” she said.
“This includes building a better understanding of the unique ways their service can be weaponised by perpetrators of family violence.”
Farha said staff and managers needed training in how to handle disclosures and better awareness of how company systems could place victims at risk.
A Momentum Energy spokesperson said the company had paid the fine and implemented stronger processes to prevent future incidents.
“We are very disappointed that this incident impacted three customers from a particularly vulnerable group,” the spokesperson said.
“We take this situation seriously and understand the importance of protecting vulnerable customers.”
The company said the system error had been fixed and that staff training had been strengthened.
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