Hundreds of thousands of Australians eligible for concessions on their energy bills may not be receiving them, with more than 35% of potential recipients missing out on critical cost-of-living relief in some states, according to new research.
A paper released on Wednesday by the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) examined the eligibility criteria for concession or rebate schemes available in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT and estimated how many people were receiving the discounts based on publicly available concession and energy-retailer performance data.
The paper found the largest gap was in the ACT, where 41% of those eligible for energy concessions were not receiving them. The discounts available in the territory could be worth up to $750 a year for a household.
The next largest gap was in South Australia, where 38% of eligible consumers were not receiving rebates they were entitled to, followed by 35% of those in NSW. In SA, rebates could be worth up to $241.63 a year, while in NSW it was $285.
In Queensland, 29% of eligible consumers were estimated to be missing out on rebates of up to $372.20 on electricity and $80.77 on gas.
The gap was smaller in Tasmania, where 19% of people with an eligible concession did not receive their entitlements, which are calculated on a cents-a-day basis.
In Victoria, CPRC analysis suggested at least 7% of eligible Victorians did not receive a concession on their electricity, 12% were missing out on concessions on their gas bill and 22% on their water bill, though they warned this was likely an underestimate.
The research comes in the wake of warnings in last week’s federal budget that electricity prices were expected to rise by 56% over the next two years and gas prices by 40%.
Australians are increasingly struggling with cost of living pressures: inflation hit a 32-year high of 7.3% last week, largely driven by energy costs. Meanwhile, rents continue to rise, food banks deal with increasing requests for assistance and the federal government refrains from raising the rate of jobseeker and other below-poverty-line welfare payments.
CPRC’s broader research came after they ran an outreach program to help vulnerable Victorians access the one-off $250 power saving bonus from the Victorian government. They found up to one-third of the people they helped were eligible for energy concessions but did not have this entitlement applied to their bills.
Erin Turner, chief executive of CPRC, said the concession system was far too complex for the public to navigate, not least because eligibility differed substantially from state to state.
“There doesn’t appear to be a consistent logic about who’s in and who’s out,” Turner said.
“Concessions should apply to the same groups everywhere. It shouldn’t be so hard to figure it out.”
The report found that reducing barriers to access – reducing corporate or bureaucratic “sludge” in sign-up and service processes – was essential to ensure people were receiving the concessions they were entitled to.
It also recommended that the federal government work with the states and territories to review, streamline and unify the concessions framework.
Energy retailers, too, needed to make sure eligible consumers were receiving the concessions they were entitled to, and should invest in systems that helped people understand what they were eligible for, Turner said.
“We found examples where people in really tough situations had already made the request of their retailer, and through bureaucracy or transfers or a bad system, it hadn’t been applied.”
Turner said federal and state governments could make the process vastly easier for the public.
“Even just the information on government websites is all really convoluted,” she said.
“We’re having a national conversation about the cost of living and rising energy prices. One thing we can do immediately to help people is make the concession system better. It would be instant cost-of-living relief.”
