Overview
- Households on the Victorian Default Offer would save about $46 a year on average, while small businesses would save about $172 under the draft benchmarks.
- Roughly 510,000 Victorian households and about one fifth of small businesses currently rely on the default offer or embedded arrangements.
- The Essential Services Commission has opened consultation, with reports citing April 10 as a milestone before it confirms final benchmarks on May 24.
- If approved, the new default prices would take effect on July 1, 2026.
- Analysts caution the final figures can shift upward after consultation, noting last year’s benchmarks ended up as much as $25 higher than the draft for most networks.