If anyone at your premises relies on life support equipment, please register them with us. We'll add the premises to our and your distributor's life support register, give you advance notice of any planned interruption, and ensure your power is never disconnected for non-payment. Required under rules 124–125 of the National Energy Retail Rules.
Urgent? Call us on 1800 490 659 straight away. Tell the agent it's a life support registration — we'll process it as a priority and apply protections to your account immediately.
Life support equipment is medical equipment a person needs at home to maintain or sustain their life. Where someone at your premises depends on this equipment, your premises is treated as a "life support customer" under the National Energy Retail Rules — a status that gives you specific protections from disconnection and from unannounced supply interruptions.
The following equipment is automatically recognised under the NERR (rule 124) and equivalent state codes:
Other equipment may also be eligible if it is required for life support and confirmed in writing by a registered medical practitioner. Talk to us — we'll work with you and your doctor.
Registration is free and you can do it through any of the following channels:
We will provisionally register the premises within one business day of you contacting us, and apply the protections immediately. We will then send you a Medical Confirmation Form for the person's treating doctor or qualified medical practitioner to complete (see below).
The Medical Confirmation Form must be returned to us within 50 business days. We will write to you to confirm we have received it. If we do not receive the form by the deadline, we will contact you and provide additional time before considering whether to deregister the premises. We will not deregister you while the person continues to need the equipment.
While the premises is registered for life support:
Even with these protections, occasional power outages can happen — for example, due to severe weather, vehicle accidents or distributor faults. We strongly recommend you:
If you experience a power outage, call your distributor's faults line first. If life or safety is in immediate danger, call 000.
Both NSW and Queensland provide a concession or rebate to help with the higher running costs of life support equipment. We will register and apply any concession to your account on your request. See our Concessions & rebates page for the details.
Please tell us if anything changes — for example, the equipment is no longer required, the person who needs it moves out, or you change address. If life support is no longer required, we will only deregister you after we have confirmed this with you in writing. You can change or update the registration at any time using the contact details below.
