More than 420,000 South Australian households and 86,000 small businesses will be eligible to receive hundreds of dollars in energy bill rebates under an historic agreement between the Malinauskas and Albanese governments to help the most vulnerable withstand rising prices.
The Malinauskas Government has committed $127.2 million for the National Energy Bill Relief Plan, which will be matched by the Commonwealth dollar for dollar.
Households eligible under the plan will receive rebates of $500, while eligible small businesses will receive rebates of $650.
The relief, provided on 2023-24 energy bills, is on top of the existing state government energy concession worth up to $263.15 in 2023-24.
Households that currently receive the energy concession will automatically qualify for the rebate, with the one-off rebate also extended to Family Tax Benefit recipients.
This means the number of SA households eligible for relief is expected to double, from around 210,000 to approximately 420,000.
Those households receiving both the State government concession and one-off rebate will save up to $763.15 in 2023-24.
The rebate will be applied directly by retailers and spread evenly across quarterly bills received in 2023-24 to make energy bills more manageable for households faced with a range of cost of living pressures.
The Federal Government has committed up to $1.5 billion nationally for the plan.
South Australia is expected to receive above its population share due to a higher proportion of eligible households and small businesses.
The Malinauskas Government has been working closely with the Commonwealth since December, when the Council on Federal Financial Relations was commissioned to develop a co-funded plan.
In March, the Australian Energy Regulator released the draft Default Market Offer prices (DMO) for 2023-24 which showed residential prices are expected to increase by about $401 (21.8 per cent) in 2023-24.
Eligible households may now see their energy bills drop by 5.4 per cent in 2023-24 – or around 7.5 per cent if they also receive the SA energy concession.
Existing South Australian energy concession recipients will have the rebate applied automatically. Services Australia will communicate directly with other potentially eligible recipients advising them of the available relief and inviting them to apply.
It is the intention that eligible existing small business customers under the National Energy Retail Law will have the relief directly credited to electricity bills by retailers.
For further information visit sa.gov.au/topics/care-and-support/concessions/household-concessions/energy-bill-concessions
Quotes
Attributable to Susan Close
This is the most significant cost of living relief package in the state’s history.
This rebate will help around half a million SA households and businesses who need it most.
Attributable to Treasurer Stephen Mullighan
We promised energy bill relief and today we delivered.
This will make a significant difference to those who can least afford higher energy bills.
The Malinauskas Government is doing all it can to help struggling households.
Attributable to Jim Chalmers
Rising power prices are among the biggest burdens on families and businesses right now.
The Energy Price Relief Rebates will take the sting out of power price rises when these increases are expected to be most acute.
We recognise that Australians are doing it tough.
While there’s no quick fix to the cost-of-living challenge facing Australians, these energy bill rebates will help to ease pressure on families and businesses and put downward pressure on inflation.
Attributable to Chris Bowen
In the biggest global energy shock in 50 years, the Albanese Government acted urgently to protect Australians from the worst of energy price hikes and wipe hundreds of dollars off forecast bill increases, while Peter Dutton’s No-alition voted against relief.
Today we announce more critical support for households and small businesses doing it tough in South Australia, but we know there’s more to do, which is why we’re also investing billions in cleaner, cheaper energy to set Australian households up for the future.
