All are welcome to Seventh Day Adventist Church on 57 Walla Avenue Griffith to see the Ombudsman between 10am and 3pm. A BBQ lunch is provided, and no bookings are necessary. 

People are asked to bring along current and past energy and water bills, any letters from their retailer, their Centrelink Health Card if they have one and any concession cards.

The Energy and Water Ombudsman NSW (ENOW), Janine Young, said affordability is a key issue for people in the Murrumbidgee region.

“Affordability issues, payment difficulties, increasing debt and disconnection of supply factored in 25 per cent of complaints we received from the region in the 2016/2017 financial year, compared to 21 for all of NSW,” Ms Young said.

EWON will be joined by Revenue NSW, Legal Aid Work Development Orders, NSW Fair Trading, NSW Environment & Heritage, Aboriginal Legal Service, Financial Counsellors, Anti-Discrimination Board, Energy Account Payment Assistance (EAPA) providers and more.

“Customers can also get help setting up payment plans, having rebates applied to their account if eligible, accessing emergency payment assistance and dealing with outstanding fines and legal issues. As a result, a large bill may become manageable,” Ms Young explained.

“We find that meeting with customers face-to-face makes a big difference to everyone involved and often leads to problems being resolved much quicker than they would otherwise be,” Ms Young explained.