Energy Bill Relief Fund 043-23061426

The Australian Government partnered with states and territories in 2023-24 to provide electricity bill relief to eligible households through the Energy Bill Relief Fund to support those who need it most.

For eligible households, this temporary measure saw rebates applied to electricity bills.

Services Australia acted as an initial point of contact to collect and share consent for Centrelink customers not currently eligible for state or territory rebates. Services Australia then shared the consent with the customer’s electricity retailer. The role of the electricity retailer is to check eligibility and apply the rebate.

In the May 2024 budget, the Australian Government announced a second round of energy bill relief to be made to all households during the 2024-25 financial year. Services Australia does not have any role in the implementation of this policy in the 2024-25 financial year.

Services Australia's role

Services Australia sent a letter to Centrelink customers in September 2023 to advise their possible eligibility for energy bill relief for the 2023-24 financial year.

This letter invited customers to give consent through their Centrelink online account by completing the Energy Bill Relief Consent workflow. Centrelink then shared this consent with the customer’s electricity retailer.

It was the role of the electricity retailer to check customer eligibility through Centrelink Confirmation eServices (CCeS) and apply the rebate to electricity bills.

Services Australia did not determine:

• eligibility
• the rebate amount, or
• the rebate frequency

If customers did not want to provide their consent to Services Australia, they could contact their electricity retailer directly.

To help with customer enquiries on sharing their information with electricity retailers, see the Resources page for a link to Centrelink Confirmation eServices (CCeS).

For the 2023-24 financial year, states and territories determine the eligibility, frequency and amount of the rebate. Customers should be directed to www.energy.gov.au to obtain rebate amounts and timing.

Electricity retailers automatically applied the rebate to electricity bills if the customer:

• gets an existing state/territory energy concession or rebate, or
• resides in Queensland or Western Australia

These customers did not need to complete the Energy Bill Relief Consent workflow.

The customer must:

• be the primary electricity account holder or named on the account, and
• hold an eligible concession card or receive an eligible payment

These include (but are not limited to):

• Health Care Card (including Low Income Health Care Card)
• Pensioner Concession Card
• Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card
• Certain Department of Veterans’ Affairs concession cards
• Family Tax Benefit (A and/or B)
• Carer Allowance

For a full list of eligible cards and payments, see the Resources page for a link to websites.

Customers can only get:

• one rebate per household, even if there is more than one eligible person living there
• the rebate for their principal place of residence

As of 1 July 2024, a customer must be referred to their energy retailer if they are enquiring about the 2023-24 rebate. For the 2024-25 financial year, the eligibility criteria can be found at energy.gov.au.

Centrelink customers who may have been eligible for the first round of energy bill relief received correspondence in September 2023 inviting them to provide consent through their Centrelink online account by completing the Energy Bill Relief Consent workflow.

The Energy Bill Relief Consent workflow provided customers an alternative option for Services Australia to collect their consent on behalf of their electricity retailer.

Service Officers should tell customers that by providing their consent to Services Australia, it allows their electricity retailer to confirm their eligibility for the rebate.

A customer can withdraw consent at any time using the Energy Bill Relief Consent workflow or by contacting their electricity retailer.

As of 1 July 2024, the consent workflow has been closed and all enquiries are to be directed to the customer’s energy retailer.