There are various state government concessions and rebates available to help low-income earners pay their energy bills. Eligibility and application for these rebates vary between states.
State: NSW
NSW Government’s Social Program for Energy – Concessions and Rebates
- Family Energy Rebate
- Low Income Household Rebate
- Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) Scheme
- Life Support Rebate
- Medical Energy Rebate
- Gas Rebate
Family Energy Rebate
The Family Energy Rebate provides:
- $180 (was $150) a year to eligible customers that do not hold a DHS Concession Card or Health Care Card; or
- $20 (was $15) a year to eligible customers that do hold a DHS Concession Card or Health Care and also qualify for the Low Income Household Rebate of $285 (was $235) a year.
Eligibility:
- A resident of NSW and the account holder of his electricity connection with any other retailer; and
- Must have the recipient of the FTB during the previous financial year. NOTE: To check this you can contact the DHS on 136 150.
Application:
- Family Energy Rebate Online Application
- Family Energy Rebate Paper Application
- Email: [email protected]
- Post: PO Box 435 – Parramatta NSW 2124
Low Income Household Rebate
The Low Income Household Rebate provides:
- $285 (was $235) (excluding GST) to eligible customers who already hold an electricity account ; or $313.50 (was $258.50) to eligible long-term residents of residential communities (caravan and mobile home parks), retirement villages and strata schemes who receive electricity bills from or on behalf of their community operators.
Eligibility:
You can apply for the Low Income Household Energy Rebate if:
- You’re an NSW resident
- You’re having an account from any energy retailer
- You hold one of the following:
- Pensioner Concession Card issued by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) or Department of Human Services (DHS)
- Health Care Card issued by the DHS, or
- DVA Gold Card marked with either ‘War Widow’ or ‘War Widower Pension’, or ‘Totally and Permanently Incapacitated’ (TPI) or ‘Disability Pension’ (EDA).
Application:
- To apply for NSW Low Income Household Rebate to your energy account, please contact us on 18000 13000.
Life Support Rebates
Approved Equipment Common brand names
- Powered wheelchairs for quadriplegics – $0.30 per day Quickie, Zippie, etc
- Oxygen concentrators (FT) – $3.11 per day Devilbiss etc
- Oxygen concentrators (PT) – $1.85 per day Devilbiss, etc
- Positive Airways Pressure (PAP) Device (FT) – $0.71 per day Continuous Positive Airways Pressure (CPAP), Bilevel or Variable Positive Airways Pressure (BiPAP or V-PAP), etc
- Positive Airways Pressure (PAP) Device (PT) – $0.36 per day Continuous Positive Airways Pressure (CPAP), Bilevel or Variable Positive Airways Pressure (BiPAP or V-PAP), etc
- Enteral feeding pump – $0.44 per day Kangaroo pump, Companion-Abbott, Flexiflow petrol pump
- External heart pump – $0.11 per day Left Ventricular Assist Device
- Home dialysis – $1.54 per day Hemodialysis or Peritoneal automated cycler machines – Brand names include: Fresenius, Gambro, Baxter
- Phototherapy equipment – $3.68 per day Blue light therapy
- Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) pump – $0.84 per day Volumatic pump, Flow guard pump
- Ventilators – $3.68 per day LTV series, Breas, PLV-100, etc, Iron Lung NOTE: This does not include nebulizers, humidifiers or vaporizers
If you are unsure of the medical term used for your machine, please check with your doctor.
Eligibility:
To be eligible for the Life Support Rebate a person must:
- Be a resident in New South Wales; and
- Must be a customer of any retailer or a long-term resident of an on-supplied residential utility provider;
- Submit a valid application form as provided by the Department of Planning and Environment (the Department), which will be made available to customers on the Department’s website, duly signed by a registered medical practitioner (who is not the applicant) to verify that the use of the approved life support equipment is required at his or her principal place of residence.
Medical Energy Rebate
The Medical Energy Rebate provides:
- $285 (was $235) (excluding GST) a year to eligible customers who hold an electricity account with an electricity retailer of their choice; or
- $313.50 (was $258.50) a year to eligible residents of on-supplied residential communities, retirement villages, and strata schemes.
Eligibility:
To be eligible for the Medical Energy Rebate you need to:
- Be a resident in New South Wales; and
- Be a customer of any retailer, or a long-term resident of an on-supplied residential community, or a resident of an on-supplied retirement village, or a resident of an on-supplied strata scheme;
- Submit a valid application form as provided by the Department of Planning and Environment (the Department), which will be made available to customers on the Department’s website, duly signed by a registered medical practitioner (who is not the applicant) to verify that either the customer named on the bill or anyone residing at the residence has an inability to self-regulate body temperature*;
* This refers to holders of the Centralist Health Care Card. If you have a Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card, Low Income Health Care Card, Foster Child Health Care Card or Ex-Carer Allowance (Child) Health Care Card you do not qualify for this rebate.
Gas Rebate
The Gas Rebate provides:
- $110 (was $90) (excluding GST) each financial year to eligible customers who hold a natural gas account with a gas retailer of their choice; or
- $121 (was $99) each financial year to eligible customers with on-supplied LPG or natural gas and living in residential communities, retirement villages and strata schemes; or
- $121 (was $99) each financial year to eligible customers that use delivered LPG (bottled gas) for basic household needs such as cooking, heating or hot water. Note: This rebate cannot be claimed for the use of small BBQ gas bottles or bottled gas less than 45Kg/88L in mass.
Note: Commonwealth Senior Heath Cardholders are not eligible for this rebate.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the NSW Gas Rebate, you need to:
- Be a resident of New South Wales; and
- Must have a natural gas account with any retailer; or
- Be a long term resident of an on-supplied residential community, or a resident of an on-supplied retirement village, or a resident of an on-supplied strata scheme;
- Purchase LPG in cylinders 45Kg/88L or greater to use for domestic cooking, heating or hot water at your principal place of residence; and your name, address, LPG cylinder size and date of LPG purchase/refill appears on a tax invoice/receipt issued by your LPG supplier; and
- Be a long term resident of an on-supplied residential community, or a resident of an on-supplied retirement village, or a resident of an on-supplied strata scheme;
* This refers to holders of the Centre link Health Care Card. If you have a Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card, Low Income Health Care Card, Foster Child Health Care Card or Ex-Carer Allowance (Child) Health Care Card you do not qualify for this rebate.
State: VIC
VIC Concession
For a comprehensive overview of all rebates offered by the Victoria Government, please see the brief introduction below on the Victoria concessions and rebates useful. The concessions and rebates below are eligible for the holder of one of these cards.
- Pensioner Concession Card
- Health Care Card
- DVA Gold Card
Type of Concessions What does this concession apply to? How much is the concession?
Utility Relief Grant Scheme (URGS)
Domestic main electricity, gas or water overdue account. You can receive a separate grant on each utility (electricity and gas) once in two years. The amount of the grant is based on the amount you owe at the time of application. It is capped at six months’ worth of utility use up to a maximum of $650.
Annual Electricity Concession Domestic mains electricity usage and service costs. The concession is available year-round. 17.5 percent of electricity usage and service costs. The concession is calculated after retailer discounts and solar credits have been deducted. The concession does not apply to the first $171.60 of the annual bill. This is calculated as a daily rate on each bill. Households with very high electricity bills (over $2,890.45 in the year) need to apply for the Excess electricity concession to continue to receive a concession on their bill.
Controlled Load Electricity Concession Controlled load usage charges on domestic mains electricity. 13 percent of controlled-load electricity costs.
Electricity Transfer Fee Waiver The transfer fee that is charged by electricity retailers when account holders move house. The full transfer fee is waived.
Excess Electricity Concession Domestic mains electricity usage and service costs above $2,890.45 for the annual period starting 1 December 2018. This amount is reviewed each year. 17.5 percent of electricity usage and service costs. The concession is calculated after retailer discounts and solar credits have been deducted.
Excess Gas Concession Domestic mains gas usage and service costs above $1,587.82 for the six-month winter period 1 May to 31 October 2019. 17.5 percent of gas usage and service costs. The concession is calculated after retailer discounts are deducted.
Life Support Concession Mains domestic electricity accounts. Mains water accounts (for hemodialysis machines only). The electricity discount is the cost of 1,880-kilowatt hours (470-kilowatt hours per quarter) of electricity each year, calculated using the general domestic tariff of your retailer.
Medical Cooling Concession Mains domestic electricity usage and service costs between 1 November and 30 April. 17.5 percent of electricity usage and service costs between 1 November and 30 April. During this period the Medical cooling concession is given in addition to the Annual electricity concession.
Service to Property Charge Concession The service charge on mains domestic electricity bills with very low electricity use. If the electricity use on a bill is lower than the service charge, the service charge is reduced to the cost of the electricity used.
The concession is based on your usage cost before any solar credits are deducted.
Winter Gas Concession Domestic mains gas usage and service costs. The concession is available over the winter period of 1 May to 31 October each year. 17.5 % of gas usage and service costs. The concession is calculated after retailer discounts are deducted. The concession does not apply to the first $62.40 of the six-month winter period bills. This is calculated as a daily rate on each bill. Households with very high bills (over $1,587.82 in the period from 1 May to 31 October 2018) will need to apply for the Excess gas concession to continue to receive a concession on their bill.