Complaints on Port of Melbourne pricing order compliance

Our regulatory responsibilities include investigating complaints submitted by port users in relation to the Port of Melbourne’s compliance with a pricing order (PDF)(opens in a new window) (legislation that regulates how the port sets its prices, including the May 2020 amendment (PDF)(opens in a new window) to the pricing order). Read more about our role in administering the Port of Melbourne pricing order.

A 'port user' is someone who uses the port's prescribed services. It doesn't extend to general consumers, who are more likely to purchase goods from a business that is a 'port user'.

Our role is to investigate a complaint and inform the complainant of the outcome of our investigation. We do not have a role in resolving disputes. The complaints we receive may be considered in our five-yearly compliance reviews and our interim commentaries on the Port's tariff compliance statements.

Before you submit a Port of Melbourne services complaint

Before you submit a complaint, please ensure you do the following:

Raise your concerns with the Port of Melbourne before you contact us. We encourage complainants to resolve their concerns directly with the Port of Melbourne.
Find information about prescribed services in the Port of Melbourne’s Reference Tariff Schedule(opens in a new window).

We process your complaint within two weeks

We will contact you via email or telephone regarding the next steps. Depending on our assessment, we may consider whether:

the port licence holder has complied with the pricing order in providing the specific prescribed services
the port licence holder has not complied with the pricing order in providing the specific prescribed services
the issues raised in the complaint have not been considered or dealt with under the pricing order or part 3 of the Port Management Act(opens in a new window). We may then refer the complaint to our minister under section 49Q(6) of the Act.

We may choose to investigate the complaint, discontinue the investigation or refer the complaint to the relevant minister.

All complaints received will be recorded for future reference.

We consider your privacy requirements

We will only use and disclose personal information in order to:

address your complaint, or purposes related to the complaint
other purposes (with your consent)
other purposes permitted by the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014(opens in a new window).

Your enquiry

The Department of Government Services (DGS) collects your personal information on behalf of the Essential Services Commission and discloses that information to the commission for the purpose of responding to your enquiry. If you choose not to provide all or part of the information required, we may not be able to contact you or action your request.

If you have any questions about how your personal information will be handled or would like to gain access to your personal information, you can contact the Essential Services Commission via email on reception@esc.vic.gov.au.

We use the services of Drupal to administer this form. The information that you provide is stored on the Microsoft Azure infrastructure in Sydney, Australia.

For more information on our handling of any personal information, please refer to our privacy page.

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Briefly describe your complaint regarding a prescribed service delivered by the Port of Melbourne.

Important email

In June 2022 we completed an investigation into two complaints received from port users under section 49Q of the Port Management Act 1995(opens in a new window).
Specifically, the complainants alleged that:
- the forecast capital expenditure that the port indicated it will incur with respect to the Webb Dock East project is not prudent and efficient capital expenditure
- the port's forecasts and estimates of capital expenditure were not arrived at on a reasonable basis, nor are they the best possible in the circumstances
- there was a failure by the port to genuinely consult with relevant stakeholders about the need for and timing of the project, in relation to its inclusion and mention in the Port Development Strategy process, December 2020 Tariff Rebalancing Application or the 2021-22 Tariff Compliance Statement.
We found that the Port of Melbourne had not effectively consulted on the Webb Dock East expansion to inform its Tariff Compliance Statement for the 2021-22 financial year and therefore the Port was non-compliant with clause 7.1.2(d) of the pricing order.
This is consistent with our finding of non-compliance with clause 7.1.2(d) of the pricing order in our five-yearly inquiry into compliance with the pricing order.
We otherwise found the Port to be compliant, at the time of assessment, in relation to other elements of the complaints.

Port of Melbourne complaints 2021-22: Investigation report
PDF 1.04 MB

(opens in a new window)

Notice of complaints - Webb Dock East expansion
PDF 733.47 KB

(opens in a new window)

Updated 5 November 2026