Age Pension

Government rebate up for grabs goes largely unnoticed

Jul 30, 2017

You could be missing out on more than $300 to help you with your power bill.

More than 150,000 people in are missing out on more than $300 a year in free money as part of the Queensland government’s bid to help ease the pain and strain of skyrocketing power prices.

The Palaszczuk Government introduced changes this year to include Commonwealth Health Care Card holders and asylum-seekers as eligible for an annual electricity rebate of $330, increasing it to $340.85 for 2017-18.

But it seems less than one in 10 of those entitled to the free money have applied through their power retailers.

Tresurer Chris Pitt expressed his concern that most Health Care Card holders didn’t even know it existed.

“To help them … we will be ramping up our push to ensure eligible Queenslanders know about the entitlement,” he said. “The Palaszczuk Government understands the pressure electricity prices has on Queenslanders.”

If you apply before December, the rebate will be backdated to January.

More than $1.1 billion has already been invested to try and keep electricity prices down for Australians.

This included directing government-owned Energy Queensland to remove the cost of the solar bonus scheme from bills in order to reduce network charges by $770 million over the next three years.

However, it doesn’t seem to be enough as the National Party has called out Labor to do more for Aussies struggling with the near unaffordable current cost of living.

“We all know that businesses and families are paying more with Labor’s hidden tax on their power bills,” LNP leader Tim Nicholls said yesterday. “A 70 per cent increase in wholesale power prices over the last two years – and it’s making life really hard.”

To find out what rebates you’re eligible for in your state visit Energy Australia.