Eligible South Australians on low or fixed incomes can receive help with water and sewerage rates.
Eligibility
You must:
- own or rent your principal place of residence
- pay for water supply and/or all water usage
- hold an eligible card, receive an eligible Centrelink payment or meet low income provisions.
Eligible cards:
- Pensioner Concession Card
- Gold Card from the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA)
- Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI)
- Extreme Disablement Adjustment (EDA)
- War Widow
- issued to a person with 80 or more overall impairment points under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004
- Low Income Health Care Card
Eligible Centrelink payments:
- Newstart Allowance
- Sickness Allowance
- Widow Allowance
- Youth Allowance
- Partner Allowance
- Parenting Payment
- Special Benefit
- Community Development Project (CDP)
- New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS)
- ABSTUDY
- Austudy
- Farm Household Allowance
- War widow pension under legislation of the United Kingdom or New Zealand.
Low income provisions
You must demonstrate that you and your spouse or domestic partner meet low-income provisions.
Residential parks
If you live in a residential park, you may be eligible for a combined concession for your water, sewerage and energy.
Water concession
The water concession is calculated as up to 30% of your total water bill for a financial year, subject to the minimum and maximum amounts in the table below. The concession amount is indexed each financial year.
Amount (2019-20) | |
|---|---|
| Minimum for homeowner-occupier | $194.90 |
| Maximum for homeowner-occupier | $310.70 |
| Minimum for tenants who pay for all water usage and supply charges | $194.90 |
| Maximum for tenants who pay for all water usage and supply charges | $310.70 |
| Minimum for tenants who pay for all water usage only | $126.40 |
| Maximum for tenants who pay for all water usage only | $242.30 |
Sewerage concession
The maximum sewerage rate remission is $115.90 per annum. This amount is indexed each financial year.
Note: tenants are not eligible for a concession on sewerage rates.
Before you begin
You'll need:
- your Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN), DVA file number or a copy of your most recent tax assessment
- your SA Water account number (SA Water customers only).
How to apply
Online
Complete the online household concessions form to apply for a concession on water and sewerage rates, energy bills and the Cost of Living Concession.
Update your details using the online household concessions form.
Post
1. Complete the form
Download and complete the application for household concessions (275.0 KB PDF) or contact ConcessionsSA and ask for a form to be sent to you.
2. Submit the application
Email the form to concessions@sa.gov.au
Or post (no postage stamp required) to:
ConcessionsSA
Reply Paid 292
Adelaide SA 5001
What happens next
Applicants with SA Water
If your application is approved, your water or sewerage account will be automatically credited with the concession amount.
Applicants not with SA Water
If you are not a customer of SA Water, your concession will be paid directly into your bank account by electronic funds transfer (EFT).
Top up payments
Homeowners with council or privately supplied water and private tenants may be eligible for a top up payment at the end of each financial year.
You'll need to provide your water bill/s for the whole financial year. The bill/s must clearly show how much you are being charged for water.
Phone the ConcessionsSA Hotline to find out if you are eligible for a top up payment.
Contact
Phone
ConcessionsSA Hotline (9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday) - 1800 307 758
If you have a hearing or speech impairment - TTY 8226 6789
Interpreting and translating
To arrange an onsite or telephone interpreter, or to have a document translated, please call the Interpreting and Translating Centre (ITC) on 1800 280 203.
Related information
On this site
Downloads
- South Australian Government Water and Sewerage Concession Scheme (650.9 KB PDF)
- Hardship policy for residential customers of major water industry retailers (210.1 KB PDF)
- Hardship policy for residential customers of minor and intermediate water industry retailers (222.0 KB PDF)
Alternative versions of documents
Many documents are displayed as PDF files. If you have problems accessing documents in the PDF format, you can request a copy to be made available in an alternative format.
Email concessions@sa.gov.au
