Concessions & Rebates Terms and Conditions

The State Government can help New South Wales customers manage their energy bills in a number of ways. More information on what eligible concessions and rebates are available to you, can be found below.

Low Income Household Rebate

The Low Income Household Rebate helps eligible NSW households to pay their electricity bills by providing:

• $285 a year to eligible customers with an electricity account; or,
• $313.50 a year 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.

NSW Gas Rebate

The Gas Rebate helps eligible NSW households pay their gas bills by providing:

• $110 each financial year to eligible customers with a natural gas account; or
• $121 each financial year to eligible customers with on-supplied LPG or natural gas and who live in residential communities, retirement villages and strata schemes; or
• $121 each financial year to eligible customers who use delivered LPG (bottled gas) for basic household needs such as cooking, heating or hot water.

Family Energy Rebate

The Family Energy Rebate (FER) helps make energy bills more affordable for NSW family households with dependent children. The FER is available to applicants who were eligible for and received the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) from the Department of Human Services (DHS) in the previous financial year.

The Family Energy Rebate provides:

• $180 a year to eligible customers that do not hold a DHS Concession Card or Health Care Card; or,
• $20 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 a year

You will need to apply for the rebate directly with the Department of Planning and Environment. The application form can be found here;

https://www.energy.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/family-energy-rebate-application-retail-customers-form.pdf

Life Support Rebate

The Life Support Rebate provides financial help to people who need, or have someone living with them who needs, approved energy-intensive equipment at home.

The list of approved Life Support Equipment (extracted from the NSW Social Code for Energy) includes medical equipment that is essential for supporting life, such as home dialysis, ventilators and oxygen concentrators. The value of the rebate depends on the type of equipment being used and listed in the table below.

List of Approved Life Support Equipment

NOTE: List of brand names against each piece of equipment has been included for information only, and is not exhaustive.

Medical Energy Rebate

The Medical Energy Rebate is for customers who are unable to self-regulate their body temperature when exposed to extremes (hot or cold) of environmental temperatures. This is associated with certain medical conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis. To be eligible for the Rebate, customers require a separate diagnosis confirming that they are unable to self-regulate their body temperature.

The Medical Energy Rebate provides:

• $285 a year to eligible customers with an electricity account; or,
• $313.50 a year to eligible residents of on-supplied residential communities, retirement villages and strata schemes

https://energy.nsw.gov.au/media/1796/download

Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) Scheme

The Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) Scheme helps people experiencing a short term financial crisis or emergency to pay their electricity or gas bill.

For more about the assistance it offers, visit the EAPA Scheme page.

Eligibility

General qualifications:

To qualify for New South Wales government energy concessions, applicants must:

• Be a resident of New South Wales; and
• Be a retail energy customer or a long-term resident of an on-supplied residential community, retirement village or strata scheme; and have their name on the electricity account for supply to their principal place of residence.

Family Energy Rebate

• In addition to general qualifications, the applicant must have received the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) during the previous financial year. Please note: your FTB must have been finalised by the DHS before you submit an application for the Family Energy Rebate. To check this, contact the DHS on 136 150

Gas Rebate

In addition to general qualifications, an eligible applicant must purchase LPG in cylinders of 45 kilograms or more to use for domestic cooking, heating or hot water at their principal place of residence; and have their name, address and LPG cylinder size purchased or refilled, appear on a tax invoice/receipt issued by their LPG supplier, residential community operator, retirement village operator, or strata management company; and hold either a:

• Pensioner Concession Card issued by the DHS/DVA; or
• DHS Health Care Card; or
• DVA Gold Card marked with either:
• War Widow or War Widower Pension; or
• Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI); or
• Disability Pension (EDA).

Note: Commonwealth Senior Heath Cardholders are not eligible for this rebate.

Low Income Household Rebate

In addition to general qualifications, applicants must hold either a:

• Pensioner Concession Card issued by the DHS/DVA; or
• DHS Health Care Card; or
• DVA Gold Card marked with either:
• War Widow or War Widower Pension; or
• Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI); or
• Disability Pension (EDA).

Note: Commonwealth Senior Heath Cardholders are not eligible for this rebate.

Life Support Rebate

In addition to general qualifications, applicants must submit a valid application form from the Department of Planning, Environment, Resources and Energy. This must be 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 their principal place of residence. The application form can be found here:

https://energy.nsw.gov.au/media/1246/download

Medical Energy Rebate

In addition to general qualifications, applicants must submit a valid application form from the Department of Planning and Environment. This must be 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*; and also hold a:

• Pensioner Concession Card issued by the DHS/DVA; or
• DHS Health Care Card; or
• DVA Gold Card

Note: Commonwealth Senior Health Card holders are not eligible for this rebate

Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA) Scheme

EAPA vouchers are issued by participating EAPA providers such as St Vincent de Paul, Salvation Army, Anglicare and many others. The EAPA Scheme operates through a voucher system and each voucher is worth $50.

The EAPA provider assesses the customer’s situation and determines each case based on individual circumstances. The vouchers issued to the customer are sent to the retailer electronically by the EAPA provider and the vouchers are paid to the customer’s account.