New South Wales offers several energy concessions and rebates that can help lower your energy bills if you meet the eligibility requirements. We'll walk you through the different rebates and concessions you might qualify for and how to apply for each of them.
Eligible New South Wales residents can receive electricity, gas and solar rebates.
The following table shows an overview of energy rebates and concessions available in New South Wales. To find out more about a specific rebate, click on the one you're interested in.
There are several electricity rebates and concessions for NSW residents.
Family Energy Rebate
Who can get it? To be eligible, you must meet the following criteria:
You must be a resident of NSW whose name is on the household energy bill.
You must have received a Family Tax Benefit in the previous financial year.
How to apply: You can apply online if you're eligible and have finalised your tax return for the previous year. In some situations, you might need to submit a paper application form through the mail instead.
Eligible NSW family households with dependent children can get credit towards their energy bill.
The FTB is for parents or carers with a dependent child or secondary student under the age of 20. To qualify, the child or student must not be receiving any benefits, such as Youth Allowance, of their own. You must also be providing care for the child at least 35% of the time and meet income requirements.
Keep in mind, you need to claim the FTB before you can get the Family Energy Rebate.
Low Income Household Rebate
The Low Income Household Rebate provides discounts to pensioners, seniors, veterans or households that struggle to pay their energy bill. The rebate amount varies depending on whether you are an electricity retailer customer or receive supplied energy.
Who can get it? You must meet the following criteria:
You must be a NSW resident.
You must hold an eligible concession card.
Commonwealth Senior Health Cardholders are not eligible for this rebate.
How to apply: Contact your current energy provider. If you receive electricity from a supplied provider, you'll need to apply directly to the NSW energy department.
Life Support Rebate
If someone in your home requires the use of energy-intensive equipment, you may qualify for an energy rebate.
Who can get it? You must be a NSW resident, and someone at your address must be using one or more of the following:
Electric mobility devices
Oxygen concentrators
Positive airways pressure (PAP) devices
Enteral feeding pumps
External heart pump
Home dialysis
Phototherapy equipment
Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) pumps
Ventilators
How to apply: Contact your energy supplier directly unless you receive on-supplied energy, in which case you should submit an application to the NSW energy department.
Medical Energy Rebate
If you or someone in your household experiences a medical condition that prevents the body from effectively regulating its temperature, the Medical Energy Rebate can offset the cost of heating or cooling your home.
Who can get it? The applicant must be a NSW resident with a Pensioner Concession Card, Department of Veterans Affairs Card or Health Care Card. Additionally, a qualified medical practitioner will need to diagnose the applicant with at least one primary condition and one secondary condition.
The following diagnoses may count as a primary condition:
Autonomic system dysfunction, or loss of regulatory function, resulting from conditions such as spinal cord injury, stroke, brain injury or medical disorders.
Loss of skin integrity or sweating ability, such as can result from severe burns or rare skin conditions.
Objective reduction of function at temperature extremes, where specific tests indicate a loss of body function within certain temperature ranges, such as can occur with multiple sclerosis.
Hypersensitivity, where environmental temperatures can lead to increased pain or risk of medical complications.
Eligible individuals will also need to be diagnosed with one of the following secondary conditions.
Severe immobility, such as quadriplegia or high-level paraplegia, where it results in difficulties regulating body temperature.
Proven difficulty regulating sweating, heart rate or blood pressure.
Proven loss of physical functions or aggravation of medical conditions at certain temperatures.
How to apply: Send a completed application form signed by your qualifying medical practitioner to your energy company. If you are receiving on-supplied energy, you should submit it to the NSW energy department instead.
What about the Energy Supplement?
You may receive regular rebates towards your energy bill if you are receiving other forms of assistance payments. However, the supplement is only awarded to those who became eligible on or before 19 September 2016. If you become eligible after this date, you won't be able to receive the Energy Supplement.
How to apply: The energy supplement is automatically applied to eligible applicants.
NSW gas rebates
A gas rebate is only available for residents of NSW, aptly called the NSW Gas Rebate. Similar to the low-income household electricity rebate, the Gas Rebate provides annual discounts to eligible pensioners, veterans and low-income natural gas and LPG customers. If you use natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for necessities including cooking, heating or hot water, you may be eligible to claim a rebate towards your gas bill. If you're not sure what type of gas you are using, check out our guide to gas plans in Australia.
Who can get it? You must meet the following criteria:
You must be a NSW resident using LPG or natural gas for cooking, heating or hot water.
You must either have your name on the gas bill or be purchasing LPG in cylinder sizes of 45kg or more to use for these necessities. Proof of purchase is required.
You must hold an eligible pensioner concession card. Commonwealth Senior Health Card holders are not eligible for this rebate.
How to apply: If you receive gas from a supplied provider, you can apply directly to the NSW energy department.Otherwise, contact your current gas provider to find about their application process.
NSW solar rebates
Solar feed-in tariffs in NSW offer rebates to residents that have home or business solar power. The solar feed-in tariff rewards users based on how much power they are producing and feeding back into the grid. Tariffs vary depending on the energy company and where you live.
The EAPA scheme can help you keep the power on if you're experiencing temporary financial difficulties by providing you with electricity vouchers. Approved community welfare groups are allowed to conduct EAPA assessments and give vouchers to eligible households.
Keep in mind, EAPA vouchers are not available for gas. If you think you may be eligible for the EAPA scheme, it may also be a good idea to get in touch with your electric company and look for alternative payment plans and other long-term ways of reducing costs.
Sarah Brandon is an editor at Finder specialising in technology and reviews. She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from New York University and loves learning about why people do what they do. Sarah has researched and written about a wide range of topics, from air purifiers to AirPods. But no matter the subject, her number one priority is figuring out what information our readers need to make the best decisions.
Most Western Australia residents can't switch electricity providers but have a few options when it comes to gas. Find out if you can switch energy retailers.
Energy prices are expected to rise by up to 29% in QLD on 1 July 2023., but there's plenty of electricity and gas providers to choose from and potentially save money on your energy bills.
I installed 8 solar panels with 2kw inverter about 6 years ago, & got a federal rebate, plus a solar rebate 60 cents per kw. Now that has ended. The federal government has another solar energy rebate scheme where they pay roughly half your installment costs. Am I eligible for this rebate by installing a another unit? I’m an aged pensioner living in Dubbo NSW.
To learn more on applying for the rebate and discounts for having solar panels, please check out the NSW’s Department of Planning and Environment as well as Energy NSW. The page mentioned that solar customers should shop around for the best retail electricity offer.
Eligible customers can apply for rebates and concessions on their energy bills. Depending on which state or territory you live in, different rebates and concessions may apply to you.
Rebates and concessions vary, but are generally available to:
low income earners
pensioners
individuals with medical conditions.
Your retailer can help you identify appropriate government concession programs or rebates that may be available to you.
You should check with your relevant state or territory government to find out if you are eligible for a rebate or concession. Hope this helps!
If you don’t use the main energy grid as much as others do, you may be entitled to the Non-Mains Energy Concession. Non-mains energy refers to the following:
-Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
-Firewood
-Heating oil
-Generators
The rebate only applies to LPG, firewood, and heating oil when you are using it for domestic heating, cooling, and hot water. Also, firewood rebates are only available if your home has no other form of heating.
The rebate depends on how much you are spending on these per year and is reviewed annually.
For more information about the eligibility requirements and how you can apply, please check out our quick and easy guide about rebates and energy concessions in Victoria.
To be eligible for the NSW gas rebate, you must hold either a Pensioner Concession Card issued by the DHS/DVA. To apply, you must be eligible and already have a natural gas account with your preferred retailer, just simply call them. f you are with a supplied provider, you need to send an application form to the NSW energy department and must also provide the details of the eligible card.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stands by our editorial principles
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
I installed 8 solar panels with 2kw inverter about 6 years ago, & got a federal rebate, plus a solar rebate 60 cents per kw. Now that has ended. The federal government has another solar energy rebate scheme where they pay roughly half your installment costs. Am I eligible for this rebate by installing a another unit? I’m an aged pensioner living in Dubbo NSW.
Hi Anne,
Thank you for getting in touch with Finder.
To learn more on applying for the rebate and discounts for having solar panels, please check out the NSW’s Department of Planning and Environment as well as Energy NSW. The page mentioned that solar customers should shop around for the best retail electricity offer.
I hope this helps.
Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Jeni
do they still give council rates discounts?
Hi Ted,
Thank you for leaving a question.
Eligible customers can apply for rebates and concessions on their energy bills. Depending on which state or territory you live in, different rebates and concessions may apply to you.
Rebates and concessions vary, but are generally available to:
low income earners
pensioners
individuals with medical conditions.
Your retailer can help you identify appropriate government concession programs or rebates that may be available to you.
You should check with your relevant state or territory government to find out if you are eligible for a rebate or concession. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Reggie
How do I access non-mains energy concession for pensioners; ie. firewood subsidy
Hi Ruth,
Thanks for your inquiry.
If you don’t use the main energy grid as much as others do, you may be entitled to the Non-Mains Energy Concession. Non-mains energy refers to the following:
-Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
-Firewood
-Heating oil
-Generators
The rebate only applies to LPG, firewood, and heating oil when you are using it for domestic heating, cooling, and hot water. Also, firewood rebates are only available if your home has no other form of heating.
The rebate depends on how much you are spending on these per year and is reviewed annually.
For more information about the eligibility requirements and how you can apply, please check out our quick and easy guide about rebates and energy concessions in Victoria.
Hope this information helps
Cheers,
Arnold
I am a NSW aged pensioner, Am I entitled to the NSW Gas and electricity discounts from the NSW Govt?
Hi Bert,
Thank you for your comment.
To be eligible for the NSW gas rebate, you must hold either a Pensioner Concession Card issued by the DHS/DVA. To apply, you must be eligible and already have a natural gas account with your preferred retailer, just simply call them. f you are with a supplied provider, you need to send an application form to the NSW energy department and must also provide the details of the eligible card.
Regards,
Jhezelyn