SwitchedOn podcast: The scandal of weekly power cuts in First Nations communities

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Tens of thousands of First Nations households across northern Australia are living with the constant threat of power cuts — some being disconnected from electricity nearly every week.

Lauren Mellor from Original Power and Dr Tom Longden from Western Sydney University discuss their new report, The Right to Power – Keeping First Nations Communities on Prepayment Connected, which exposes the staggering human and systemic toll of prepaid electricity systems.

They reveal how prepayment — a system often imposed without consent and designed to shift financial risk from retailers to consumers — is leaving families in the dark, often during extreme heat.

They discuss the failures of retailers to protect vulnerable customers, the ‘racialised’ nature of prepayment rollouts, and the reforms needed to keep communities connected. From automatic hardship concessions to heatwave disconnection bans and community solar programs, they argue it’s time to end a two-tiered energy system that no other Australians would tolerate.