EnergyAustralia is planning to cut around 150 jobs after a steep decline in retail earnings, as the electricity retailer looks to reduce costs and restore profitability, according to a report by The Australian.
The Hong Kong-owned energy company has engaged global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal to review its operations.
Senior sources told the newspaper that the proposed redundancies will span multiple areas of the business.
The planned cuts come as EnergyAustralia faces tougher competition for customers and continued pressure from volatile wholesale electricity prices.
According to The Australian, the retailer has lost 163,000 customer accounts since 2022. Its operating earnings before fair-value movements fell 85.6% last year.
Wholesale volatility
Fluctuations in wholesale electricity prices have added to the financial pressure on energy retailers.
Sudden price movements can force companies to secure significant amounts of cash at short notice, even when they expect to recover the additional costs over time.
The report did not specify which teams would be affected or when the redundancies would take effect.
Redundancy obligations
The proposed workforce reduction also highlights the legal and procedural requirements employers must follow when undertaking large-scale restructures.
Under Australia's Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), employers proposing to make 15 or more employees redundant must notify Services Australia in writing as soon as possible.
Employers must also notify or consult the relevant union if at least one affected employee is a union member, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Consultation requirements under modern awards and enterprise agreements also play an important role in determining whether a redundancy process is legally compliant.
Recent Fair Work Commission decisions have highlighted the risks employers face when consultation and redeployment obligations are not properly followed, even when the underlying business decision to remove a role is considered legitimate.
Lessons for HR
In July 2026, the Fair Work Commission found that a Sydney childcare operator's redundancy process had failed to meet consultation requirements, despite accepting that the role had genuinely disappeared from the business.
In a separate decision in March 2026, the Commission rejected Triple Zero Victoria's genuine redundancy defence over failures relating to redeployment.
The case highlighted that consultation obligations under an enterprise agreement can extend to redeployment discussions, rather than being limited to the initial announcement of organisational changes.
Another case involving a cosmetics manufacturer reinforced the importance of following the correct process.
Although the employer established that the redundancy was genuine, the Commission found that consultation requirements had not been met. Consequently, the dismissal did not qualify as a genuine redundancy under the Fair Work Act.
For HR leaders managing cost-driven restructures, these decisions underline the importance of balancing financial objectives with employee consultation and redeployment obligations.
A legitimate commercial reason for removing roles does not eliminate the need for a fair and legally compliant redundancy process.