A South East Water customer assistance campaign has garnered success at the 2025 Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) Awards.
The water utility’s ‘Financial Hardship Local Area Marketing’ campaign has been named a finalist in the in the ‘Communicating with Impact’ category.
South East Water developed the financial hardship campaign to support customers in the postcode 3977, encompassing Cranbourne, which the utility’s data recognised as the postcode with the highest rate of unpaid water bills.
By using a local approach, South East Water tailored the campaign to the suburb and circumstances, reflecting customer experiences. Information was also tailored to include four of the most spoken languages in the area – Dari, Hazaraghi, Sinhalese and Hindi.
South East Water Managing Director, Lara Olsen, said the campaign focussed on helping customers with their bills, rather than chasing debt.
“We understand that it is a difficult time for many people in our community, so we wanted to remind our customers that we’re here to help and provide information on the options available if you’re having difficulty paying,” she said.
“We wanted to try a new way to let people know about our support, so we tailored our communications and photos to show local places and reflect local languages.
“By doing this, we hope more people in our community can recognise that they too can reach out for help.
“Our focus is on early intervention and community service partnership to help people before debt becomes an issue,” Ms Olsen said.
“Community wellbeing and customer affordability is at the centre of our mission, and through our campaign we wanted to improve financial resilience and enable our customers to feel supported, understood, and empowered.”
South East Water assistance campaigns, including the Cranbourne campaign, have resulted in more than 40,000 customers acting on support options. Support included:
- 8482 payment extensions granted
- 6236 payment plans set up
- 6089 concessions applied
- 1005 customers entered into the utility’s hardship program
To plan for further future engagement, South East Water has now established partnerships with local grassroots community organisations Southern Migrant Refugee Centre and Casey North Community Information and Support Service.
“We hope this will allow us to better reach communities who most need our support and set us up for ongoing connections,” Ms Olsen said.
The IPAA Leadership Awards honour the excellence and innovation of teams and organisations working in, and with, the Victorian public purpose sector including Victorian community organisations, academics and experts, private firms and all three levels of government in Victoria – federal, state and local.
The Communicating with Impact Award recognises excellence in communication, both internal and external, delivering innovative and creative campaigns that drive public value for the communities they serve.
All IPAA Leadership Awards finalists are also included in the People’s Choice Award, which is open until 1 August 2025.
To vote on the People’s Choice Award, visit www.vic.ipaa.org.au/awards/peoples-choice-award-2/
