Victorian Government - Energy Concessions

Energy Concession Types and Eligibility

There are ten different energy concessions available. These include:

Annual electricity concession

• You must have either Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card.
• 17.5 per cent of electricity usage and service costs are covered. The concession does not apply to the first $171.60 of the annual bill. This is calculated as a daily rate on each bill.

Winter gas concession

• The concession is available over the winter period of 1 May to 31 October each year.
• You must have either Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card.
• 17.5 per cent of gas usage and service costs.
• The concession does not apply to the first $62.40 of the six-month winter period bills. This is calculated as a daily rate on each bill.
• Households with very high bills (over $1,555 in the period from 1 May to 31 October 2018) will need to apply for the Excess gas concession (as below) to continue to receive a concession on their bill.

Excess gas concession

• Domestic mains gas usage and service costs above $1,555 for the six-month winter period 1 May to 31 October 2018. It is not in addition to the Winter gas concession, rather, it is an extension of it.
• You must have either Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card.
• 17.5 per cent of gas usage and service costs.

Non-mains energy concession

Non-mains sources of energy: Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Firewood for domestic heating, cooking or hot water, Heating oil, Electricity accessed via an embedded network, Generator fuel.

You must have either Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card .The concession is paid annually based on the amount paid for each energy type in that year. The rebate amounts for the 2018 calendar year are:

• $49 for spending from $100 to $281.99
• $148 for spending from $282 to $846.99
• $247 for spending from $847 to $1408.99
• $352 for spending from $1409 to $2010.99
• $450 for spending from $2011 to $2572.99
• $547 for spending $2573 and above.
• A separate rebate is paid for each energy type used.

Medical Cooling

• Mains domestic electricity usage and service costs between 1 November and 30 April.
• You must have either Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card and Has a medical condition that affects their body's ability to self-regulate temperature or has a household member with such a medical condition.
• Pre-approved conditions are: Multiple Sclerosis, Lymphoedema, Parkinson’s disease, Fibromyalgia, Post-polio Syndrome/Poliomyelitis, Motor Neurone Disease.
• Applications for other conditions must be approved by the Department of Health and Human Services.
• 17.5 per cent of electricity usage and service costs between 1 November and 30 April.
• During this period the Medical cooling concession is given in addition to the Annual electricity concession.

Life support concession

• You must have either Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card
• Uses an eligible life support machine or has a household member who uses an eligible life support machine.
• The electricity discount is the cost of 1,880 kilowatt hours (470 kilowatt hours per quarter) of electricity each year, calculated using the general domestic tariff of your retailer.
• The water discount for haemodialysis users is the cost of 168 kilolitres (42 kilolitres per quarter) of water each year

Further Information

https://services.dhhs.vic.gov.au/energy