The Federal Government has announced that it will give holders of a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC) up to $500 per household to ease the impact of rising electricity prices on Australian seniors.

More than 490,000 people are set to benefit from the help.
 
Eligible Australians will be able to claim the energy bill relief payment to help with cost-of-living pressures from July 2023.
 
Social services minister Amanda Rishworth said the move was part of the Albanese Government’s “targeted and responsible” measures to help those who needed it most.


“We are delivering on our commitments to do what we can as a government to ease cost-of-living pressures and help older Australians keep more money in their pockets,” Rishworth said in a statement.
 
Rebates for the Energy Price Relief Plan will be administered via the state and territory governments however the amount each household receives will depend entirely on where the CSHC holder resides.

What's happening where?

If you live in NSW, Queensland, South Australia or Tasmania, you can get $500 per eligible household.

If you live in Victoria, you can get $250 per eligible household, plus a one-off direct payment through Victoria’s 2023 Power Saving Bonus Payment.
 
The news isn’t quite as good if you live in other states, however.
 
If you live in the Northern Territory, you can get $350 per eligible household.
 
If you live in Western Australia and are currently registered with the Electricity Concession Extension Scheme (ECES), you will get a $500 electricity credit split over two payments. All other Western Australian households can get a $400 electricity credit.
 
If you live in the ACT, you can get $175 per eligible household. Your bills will also be lower owing to the ACT’s Large-scale Feed-in Tariff Scheme which will lower the average bill by $152.

Income changes

The announcement is the latest from the government’s election commitment made last year when it passed laws to expand eligibility for the CSHC so that singles with an annual income of $90,000 (instead of $57,761), and couples with $144,000 (instead of $92,416) were eligible for certain federal healthcare concessions.
 
Government data shows that a total of approximately 16,230 extra self-funded retirees were granted the card as of 12 May 2023.


“More older Australians and veterans than ever before are saving on healthcare costs since we delivered on our election commitment to increase the income limits for the CSHC last year.”

“Our hope is this take-up trajectory continues and more older Australians continue to take advantage of these increased income limits in the years to come,” Rishworth said.
 
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