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Energy bill relief – Tackling the cost of living

The 2023–24 Budget delivers $1.483 billion for additional electricity bill support to households and small businesses facing cost-of-living pressures. This is the most significant electricity bill support package announced by any state or territory, more than doubling the size of the Federally agreed support package for Queensland under the National Energy Bill Relief Fund.

  • $550 Cost of Living Rebate on electricity bills to all Queensland households

  • $700 Cost of Living Rebate on electricity bills for vulnerable households, in addition to the existing $372 under the Queensland Electricity Rebate Scheme, bringing total rebates for this group to $1,072

  • $650 rebate on electricity bills for around 205,000 eligible small businesses, cutting the cost of doing business in Queensland

As part of this package, all Queensland households will automatically receive a $550 Cost of Living Rebate on their electricity bill in 2023–24, while around 600,000 vulnerable households will benefit from a higher $700 Cost of Living Rebate.

In addition, vulnerable households will continue to receive a $372 rebate under the Queensland Electricity Rebate Scheme, bringing total support for this group to $1,072 in 2023–24.

The Government’s substantial cost-of-living relief package will more than offset typical household electricity bill increases in 2023–24. In some cases, households will have zero bills or be in credit in 2023–24.

Including the $550 Cost of Living Rebate in 2023–24, the government will have provided all Queensland households with a total of $1,125 in electricity rebates since 2018 (Chart 1).

 

Chart 1: Historical Electricity Rebates.
Source: Queensland Treasury.

Eligible small businesses in Queensland will also receive an automatic rebate of $650 on their electricity bill in 2023–24.  This includes around 205,000 Queensland small businesses that consume less than 100,000 kilowatt hours per annum.

The Queensland Government’s cost-of-living relief package significantly increases and broadens support under the National Energy Bill Relief Plan, jointly funded by the Queensland and Australian Governments (Chart 5).

As part of this package, the Queensland Government has also allocated $60 million for a Household Energy Initiatives program, and $10 million for Vulnerable Households Energy Advice Initiatives to deliver energy efficiency measures to keep costs down for households, enabling more choice and greater energy equity.  This constitutes Queensland’s co-contribution to the Australian Government’s Household Energy Upgrades Fund.

Visit www.QueenslandSavers.qld.gov.au to find out about the full range of savings on the table for Queenslanders.

Last updated: 13 June 2023