News article
Update on billing delays
3 March 2025
Potential customer data breaches
As part of the upgrades to our billing system, some customer details were migrated incorrectly. This has resulted in some bills being sent to outdated or secondary postal or email addresses. While we are actively working to correct affected records, this issue is ongoing, and some account information in our system may still be inaccurate.
To ensure your account details are up to date and help prevent your account information being sent to the wrong address, we strongly encourage you to log into My GWW and check your name, address and contact details are up to date.
Keeping your information current helps protect your privacy and ensures you receive important account updates.
We take your privacy seriously and will contact you directly if we believe your information has been shared incorrectly. We don’t hold any financial information or credit card details, so this information remains secure.
As soon as we identified this issue, we reported it to the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (OVIC) and we’re following their advice to make sure your data is secure.
If you’re expecting a bill and haven’t received it yet, or if you have any concerns about your account, please contact us. Our team is here to assist and provide any information you may need.
We’re working hard to resolve this issue and are making further improvements to prevent it from happening again.
Find out more about how to protect your GWW account.
25 February 2025
Keeping in touch and keeping you informed
We appreciate everyone’s patience while reaching out to us over the past few weeks. Our wait times are longer than usual, and we’re working hard to respond to you as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, here are some other ways you can get support or manage your account.
Join us at a customer care day
We're hosting a series of customer care days throughout March and April, where you can get in-person support to resolve billing enquiries.
We're making it easy to attend, with events scheduled across our service region at different times to suit you.
We'll also have phone translation services available, so language is never a barrier.
Find out more and register your attendance on our customer care days page
You can pay any amount, any time
If you're trying to get in touch to set up a payment plan, remember that you don't need a formal arrangement to make smaller payments. You can pay any amount, any time through My GWW or using the BPAY details on your bill.
If your bill is overdue, you may still receive reminder notices, but we won’t take further action while we're working through your enquiry.
Direct debit in full payments are paused
We've let impacted customers know that their direct debit in full arrangements are currently paused. We'll give you at least 30 days' notice before reinstating them. When we do, we'll only deduct the amount of the next bill to be due.
If your direct debit in full is paused, we encourage you to choose an alternative payment option in the meantime.
If you've got more questions, check the other updates on this page, or the FAQs on our billing delays page.
Need to speak to someone?
If your request is urgent, call us on 13 44 99 and we'll make it a priority.
Our customer service team is experiencing higher than normal call volumes, which means there might be some wait times. We really appreciate your patience.
If you don't need immediate help, you can check if your question has already been answered on our billing delays information page or explore other ways to contact us - we're here to support you.
Previous updates
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6 February 2025
We're currently receiving an exceptionally high number of calls and customer enquiries, and unfortunately our response times are longer than usual.
As we work to get our billing schedule back on track, we're sending bills closer together and many bills are approaching their due dates, so we have more customers wanting to get in touch than usual.
We understand this is frustrating, and if you've been trying to get in touch, we thank you for your patience.
In the past week, some customers may have heard a 'user busy' or engaged message when trying to call us and were unable to connect due to a system fault. Our team is working through this issue and will continue to monitor our phone lines closely.
If you need to report a fault you can do it online here.
We are prioritising phone and webchat to assist as many customers as possible. If your enquiry is not urgent, you can also send an SMS to 0480 015 200.
You can also manage your account online with My GWW. There you can:
- see your current balance and make a payment
- update your contact details
- apply for a concession
- apply for a payment extension
- request additional payment support.
To support the increase in calls and enquiries and reduce call wait times, we continue to offer extended contact centre hours from 8.30am-7pm, Monday to Friday.
If you have contacted us via online form, email or SMS, we have your enquiry and we will get back to you as soon as we can – there is no need to send a new enquiry.
21 January 2025
Delayed bills we sent in October 2024 covering one or two billing periods, are now approaching their due dates.
To help you stay on track, we’ll be sending reminders to affected customers, as these bills were issued a few months ago.
We know some bills may be arriving closer together than usual. To make things easier, we’re offering flexible payment options – you can pay in part or in full, or set up a weekly, fortnightly or monthly direct debit.
If managing bills feels difficult right now, please reach out. We’re here to help.
Visit our billing delays page for more information.
More updates to keep you informed
We’re committed to keeping you informed. You may have received more updates from us lately as we want to ensure you have the information you need. Please see a message from our GM Customer Experience, Rohan Charrett, for more details.
20 December 2024
Holiday season update: call centre operating hours
Our customer service team will be taking a break over the holiday season, but we’re still here to support you.
We've extended our call centre hours to 8.30am–7pm to help reduce call wait times. However, we’ll be closed on 25-26 December 2024 and 1 January 2025.
For faults or emergencies, you can call us 24/7 on 13 44 99.
Thank you for your patience as we've worked through billing issues. We’re committed to serving you in 2025 and wish you a safe and happy holiday season.
For billing information and FAQs visit our billing delays page.
12 December 2024
Now that we’ve sent all delayed bills covering an extended period, we’re focused on returning to our regular quarterly billing schedule. This will ensure our customers receive the consistent and reliable bills they expect.
For customers affected by delays, this means your bills will arrive closer together for the next few months.
We apologise for any inconvenience or financial stress this may cause and we’re committed to supporting you during this transition.
If your next bill arrives before your previous bill’s due date, your new bill will show the total of both bills as the amount to pay. You can still pay the previous bill amount on the due date indicated on the previous bill. Find out more about understanding your bill.
To help you manage payments, we’re extending due dates and encourage you to contact us to set up a payment plan that suits your needs. We’re here to make this process as smooth as possible.
20 November 2024
We're currently experiencing delays in issuing customer bills as we work through some challenges with our billing system upgrade.
We’ve now sent all delayed bills that covered a longer period of time. Thank you for your patience as we’ve worked through the delays.
A small minority of bills have not yet been sent due to remaining technical issues. If you haven’t received your bill yet, we’re working hard to get it to you as soon as we can. You can be assured it will only cover a normal billing period.
You’ll have at least 28 days between bills, and we’ve extended payment terms to help smooth things out.
If you need extra flexibility, please contact us and we can set up a payment plan. If you need any other assistance or have any questions, give us a call.
Extended call centre hours
We’ve temporarily extended our call centre hours to 7pm to help lower call wait times.
We’re glad to share that call wait times have generally improved, though they may still vary during busy periods. Our customer service team is here to help if you need it, and we appreciate your patience as we get back on track.
For more details, visit our billing delays page or call us on 13 44 99.
25 October 2024
As part of our commitment to return to regular billing as soon as possible you may receive a bill which covers a longer period, making it higher than normal.
We understand managing a larger bill can be a challenge, and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.
We’re currently offering four months to pay on all bills.
If you need extra support, we’re here to help with flexible payment options. To find out more visit our financial support page.
Concession update
Some delayed bills cover a longer period than usual. As we've calculated these bills, we found a system issue that affected concession discounts for July–September 2024. To make sure you're supported, we've adjusted these bills to apply the highest rebate for concession holders.
All concession card holders getting a bill that spans two billing periods will also get a $50 goodwill rebate and extended payment terms of four months.
Our team is working hard to return to normal billing, and we're committed to keeping you updated here as we make progress.
Please visit our billing delays page for more information.
18 October 2024
We're making steady progress fixing technical issues and we’ve now sent more than 340,000 delayed bills to customers. More bills will be sent this week, including some covering a longer period, which might be higher than usual. You'll have up to four months to pay.
You'll notice some changes, like a new account number and an updated bill design. We're including a handy bill explainer to help you understand your new-look bill and more information about payment options and support.
If you have any questions, we’re just a call away – but please note, we’re experiencing longer than usual wait times. We appreciate your patience and kindness to our team, who are here to help.
You can also visit our billing delays page for more information.
10 October 2024: Delayed bills are on the way
This week we started progressively sending out bills that were delayed due to technical issues, and they'll continue to go out over the coming weeks. Once your bill arrives, you'll have four months to pay. If you need any financial support or want to set up instalments, we're here to help.
Some bills may show a second meter reading with 0 bill days — please ignore this part as we continue to resolve technical issues. We're sorry for any confusion.
Thanks so much for your patience as we work through this. For more information, visit our billing delays page.
4 October 2024: Estimated meter reads
We’ve heard your questions about meter readings and want to clarify how this works. Our meter readers can face challenges accessing some properties due to locked gates or obstacles. When we can't read the meter, we estimate your usage, which can result in a higher bill.
If you receive an estimated bill, you can contact us with your meter reading. To provide a current meter reading, please note down your meter number, current meter reading (black numbers only, including all zeros) and the date you read the meter. Head to our contact page to share your reading - you can call us, SMS, start a webchat or upload a photo using our web form.
You have two options to pay an estimated bill:
- you can pay the bill and once we receive your actual reading, we'll adjust your account and reflect this on your next bill, or
- you can request a new bill based on the meter read you provide - there's no extra charge for this.
And this is a great reminder to please keep a clear path to your meter for our readers to do their job safely. Thank you.
3 October 2024: Billing delays
This billing system upgrade was important because it replaced two systems – both nearly 30 years old – and brings together more than 630,000 customers into a single system after the integration of Western Water and City West Water. This investment will help us better serve our fast-growing community.
We know how important it is to get an accurate and timely bill, and we're truly sorry for any inconvenience the delays may be causing you.
Our team is working hard to fix the issues and we're committed to keeping you updated here as we make progress.
Waiting on your water bill?
If you haven't received a bill yet, there's no need to worry. We'll send it to you as soon as we can.
We've started contacting customers to let you know what to expect when your bill arrives. If you've provided your email address as your preferred contact method, please check your junk mail and add gww.com.au to your safe senders list to make sure our emails reach your inbox.
Once your bill arrives, you'll have four months to pay, and we're here to help if you need any financial support including the option to pay by instalments. There won't be any extra charges due to these delays and your water supply will continue as usual.