From today, hundreds of thousands of hard-working Australian households and businesses will get a fairer and cheaper deal on their electricity bill thanks to the Morrison Government.

As of 1 July, electricity prices will be capped for nearly 800,000 customers on standing offers in south-east Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia with the introduction of the default market offer.

The Default Market Offer (DMO) will effectively serve as a price cap to protect customers who find pricing and discounts confusing, or who simply haven't had the time to negotiate a better deal. We are stopping energy companies from taking advantage of their loyal customers by artificially inflating their standing offer prices.

The maximum price to be charged by retailers for standing offers has been set by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and applies in regions where prices are not already regulated by a state or territory. Households changing to the DMO from standing offer contracts could save up to $525 in South Australia, $663 in NSW and $662 in south-east Queensland.

Businesses changing to Default Market Offers from standing offer contracts could save up to $1,913 in South Australia, $2,851 in NSW and $2,373 in south-east Queensland.

The DMO will also serve as a reference bill, which will improve transparency in the market by requiring all retailers to advertise their offers in comparison to that benchmark price.

The reference bill will allow customers to easily identify which is the cheapest deal available for them, making it easier for customers to understand the discounts on offer

The introduction of the Default Market Offer and reference bill builds on the Morrison Government's work to protect customers and reduce power prices for families and small business, including:'

• the one-off Energy Assistance Payment that more than 3.9 million Australians have received to help them manage their energy bills and cost of living expenses
• a $10 million energy advisory service that will help thousands of small businesses to reduce their energy use, lower bills and find the best energy deals available to them, and
• tackling sneaky late-payment fees charged by energy retailers to customers who have failed to meet their discount conditions, through a rule change submitted to the Australian Energy Market Commission. '

The Morrison Government is getting power prices down for households and small businesses so that Australians can get a fair deal on energy, while we keep our economy strong.