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.
For further information visit sa.gov.au
The Commonwealth has also committed $1.3 billion to establish a Household Energy Upgrades Fund, most of which will be used to help households to pay for energy saving measures such as double glazing and solar panels.
There is an additional $2 billion to support large scale renewable hydrogen projects to help attract foreign and domestic investment to the industry.
The Federal Budget lifts the single parenting payment age cut off from 8 to 14, and increases the base rate of eligible working age and student income support payments, such as JobSeeker, Austudy and Youth Allowance by $40 per fortnight to eligible people. There are currently more than 81,000 South Australians on JobSeeker.
The higher rate of JobSeeker will also become available to recipients from the age of 55, instead of 60, for those who have received the payment for nine or more continuous months.
Rent assistance is up 15 per cent, set to benefit an estimated 1.1 million Australian households.
There is also $3.5 billion to triple the bulk billing incentive for children, pensioners and other Commonwealth concession card holders. This is expected to provide free GP consultations to 11.6 million people nationwide, reducing pressure on household budgets and the health system.
There is an additional $2.2 billion for new listings on the PBS. As previously announced aged care workers will receive a 15% pay rise to attract more staff.
Following the AUKUS announcement there is $127.3 million for more Commonwealth supported university places for nuclear powered submarines skills related courses, including an additional 800 for SA.
Since the 2022-23 October Federal Budget, the national GST pool has been revised down by $800 million in 2022-23, with SA down $95 million.
The economic outlook remains largely unchanged from October, but with an improved employment outlook.
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Attributable to Stephen Mullighan
This agreement will make a significant difference to hundreds of thousands of households and small businesses who can least afford higher energy bills.
The Commonwealth’s investments in single parenting payments, job seeker and rent assistance will also help to ease some pressure on households.
The tripling of the bulk billing incentive for GPs is great news for patients and should help to reduce the strain on SA hospitals.
