COVID-19 QLD: Individuals – COVID-19 Household Utility Relief

This program aims to help households with electricity and water costs, as part of the Queensland Government’s COVID-19 economic relief package.

Queensland households will automatically receive a $200 rebate to help offset household electricity and water costs. In order to provide this assistance to households as quickly as possible, the household utility assistance payment will be credited to customers’ electricity bills.

The payment is made up of:
- The $50 electricity asset ownership dividend for 2020.
- An additional $150 to assist households with their utility bills this year.

This assistance is in addition to any other energy rebate or concession for which customers may be eligible.

Regional Queensland residential customers will start seeing the utility rebate appear from April 2020 onwards, depending on their individual electricity bill cycle.

South East Queensland customers will begin seeing the credit on their electricity bill from May 2020, depending on when they are due to receive their bill.

A total funding pool of $300 million is available.

Eligible applicants include:
- Residential customers who are separately charged for their electricity.
- Households who pay their landlord, property manager, caravan park owner or body corporate in an on-supply arrangement. These customers will have the rebate credited to their bills by their on-supplier or electricity billing company.
- Households with card-operated meters. The rebate will be automatically transferred to their orange power cards (linked card).

On-suppliers are required to lodge a claim (using form 511) with their electricity retailer.

Customers who don’t receive a separate electricity bill (e.g. where electricity is included as part of the rent) are not eligible to receive the rebate.